Serendipity
by Nautica Dawn
Summary: The world has fallen to the Akatsuki, and Itachi is now Raikage. He brought stability to the volatile Land of Lightning, and now he must bring stability to his home. Too bad his wife is determined to hate him. /ItaSaku\
1. Prelude: The Storyteller Speaks

_**Serendipity**_

_By Hikari Adams_

* * *

_Prelude_

_The Storyteller Speaks_

* * *

Once upon a time, there lived a doctor. She was a kind doctor, a beautiful woman of twenty years. She was loved by all and scorned only by the envious. She was powerful, so powerful that the majestic mountains trembled in fright before her.

She was intelligent, a spark of knowledge always shining in her bright eyes. She was vivacious and proud. She was young and so very immortal. She was amazingly loyal to those that she cared about. She had once been weak, but as she grew she came to possess all the confidence of a raging hurricane.

Once upon a time, there lived a great man. He was enigmatic, a handsome man of five and twenty summers. He was feared by all and respected only by the brave. He was powerful, so powerful that the undefeated armies of faraway countries quaked in terror before him.

He was a genius, a flash of superior intellect forever present in his scarlet obsidian gaze. He was apathetic, and slightly arrogant. He was amazingly loyal to only himself. He was young and very much a living legend. He was once an angry child, but he grew to have the patience of a mighty oak tree.

Once upon a time, tragedy struck the world. The sun rose in a claret sky, the loving night surrendering to a harsh day. It was in the midst of the new world that the beloved doctor made a deal with the great man to protect her loved ones. In the years that would follow them, the storytellers would speak of them in the tones reserved for the great heroes of ancient tales.

They would become legends for all eternity.

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry for once again starting a new fic, but I was at chapter two (three with the prelude) and I really liked it, so I had to post it. I think 'Serendipity' will be my favorite of my Itachi/Sakura stories. As always, I do not own 'Naruto'.

_As always, support your local fanfiction writer. Please donate a review._

_Hikari Adams_


	2. Chapter One: The Beginning

_**Serendipity**_

_Chapter One _

_The Beginning_

* * *

All the world had burned. In the carnage that was the last war between Konohagakure, the final village to fall, and the mysterious Akatsuki, the entire world had suffered the fires of the last battle. The unprecedented destruction left all of humanity to greet the new day as it came to life amid a crimson dawn. Land was divided, stolen from her historical rulers, and prisoners were taken from their homes, shipped off to be held for indeterminable years. Each new land was given a leader; one of the cursed members of the red daybreak, and each leader was given everything they would need. Each one reported back to the villainous ruler of the former Land of Fire.

Only Lightening, the legendary Kaminari no Kuni, managed stability of any kind.

As it turned out, Uchiha Itachi was a fair leader. He was logical and just, and careful to keep his subjects in peace and as happy as they could be, all things considered. They suffered none of the riots and civil war the other countries were plagued with, due to his rule. He was intelligent, and had made the brightest move in his game of chess when he took insurance against the former Konoha citizens that he had given asylum to in his country.

His insurance was his wife.

Haruno Sakura was a beautiful, and dangerously powerful, kunoichi of the Leaf. She hailed from Konohagakure, and was well loved by her former comrades. She was a medic of the highest caliber, and her decorum was flawless when she chose to use it. She was the perfect bride to a leader such as Itachi, regardless of her repugnant attitude towards her husband. She was logical, like him, but she was empathic. She cared about people, and was always quick to remind the new Raikage of what his people were in need of. The respect that she commanded had somehow transferred to him as well, and it worked perfectly for him.

No one under his rule would rebel with her life on the line.

It was a dark truth, but one that the world knew well. The beloved apprentice of the fallen Godaime Hokage would suffer, should any hand be raised against the new world rulers.

At least, that was what he let them believe.

The once vivacious young woman had become cynical and caustic in the months following her homeland's fall. Her sentimentality faded as everything that she held dear slipped away from her. Those left behind, her few friends that she had sold herself to protect, sought to vindicate and vilify her at the same time. He alone knew her umbrage towards the cause of it all: himself. It was tacit that no word of their quagmire was to be breathed beyond the two.

Of course, logic dictated that this husband and wife would not get along.

"You want me to do what?"

Itachi suppressed a heavy sigh as Sakura's voice lost its pitch and volume, sliding to the hiss of wind that preceded an arctic blizzard. He almost gave up, and most likely would have had he been any other man.

"You are to attend the gathering in Konohagakure," he noticed that she flinched at the name, "With me next month. Madara-sama has requested that all Kage and their significant others make an appearance. It is vital that you come with me."

She stiffened. He only used the word 'vital' in an instruction to her when he was referencing their three-year-old deal. She felt like banging her head against the walls of the room. Her jade eyes landed on a photograph hanging on the wall of her bedroom (yes, _hers_, never in her three years of marriage had she even slept in the same area of the house as Itachi), and she sighed.

"Fine, I'll go," she relented through clenched teeth, "But understand that I will not accept being treated as a second-class citizen."

He smirked, turning to leave, "Of course not. I believe Konan-san has taken a liking to you. You'll be treated well, if not for the fact that she likes you, then for the fact that you are Uchiha."

_Uchiha_.

She waited until he was gone to cringe. When she was younger, she had wanted the Uchiha name as her own. Never had she dreamed that she would get it by selling herself to keep the ones she loved safe. She could still remember the cold courtesy Sasuke had shown her the last time she had visited Naruto and the others in the sleepy little village Itachi had had built in the northern most reaches of the country for her beloved refugees from Konohagakure.

He still hated her, and yet he still resided in the hamlet that existed solely because of her deal with his brother.

Still, she liked spending time with Konan. The blue-haired woman was interesting, and the last time Sakura had been forced to return to her hometown, she had spent the entire event learning origami from the older kunoichi in peaceful silence.

She did not like spending time with the rest of the Akatsuki. Dinner was always strained at the gatherings. The members of the organization, with the exception of Konan and Pein, did not get along very well with each other. Throw the wives, fiancées, and other significant members of their—_families_—into the mix, and it was usually very tense.

Kisame's fiancée, a childhood friend from what she understood, was the brazen daughter of his former sensei. She was interesting to speak with, but she was too much of a tomboy to really connect with the pinkette. She was someone Mitarashi Anko would have been best friends with after five minutes. The rest of them, in the woman's words, were all idiot kunoichi who never learned to think. This quick elimination left Sakura with Konan…

…Or Itachi, but she wasn't going to entertain the idea.

In a different part of the Raikage's manor, Itachi glided through the corridors with ethereal footsteps.

Sakura was an interesting woman. A part of him was pleased that she had approached him with her deal, saving him from certain doom at his sensei's command. This, of course, did not stop the fact that it was merely a deal for convenience.

Really, he had trouble calling it a real marriage. It was more of a peace treaty, or a business deal. Just something that existed to maintain stability in Kaminari. It was his land, and he was Raikage. He had to maintain stability in order to keep his job, even though he had the best form of job security in Uchiha Madara, supreme ruler of the shinobi nations. He needed to keep the favor of the people, and she gave him that.

The fact that he gave her teammates, both of whom were supposed to be very dead, a safe haven in the northern reaches of Kaminari and allowed the rest of the Konoha refugees to take sanctuary there was only the side of the bargain that he had to keep up. Sakura had to stand by him and pretend to actually care about him. From the view of an outsider, this was the harder job.

She hated him. It wasn't a theory or a supposition. It was a rather cruel and slightly amusing fact. She hated him, and yet she was the one who proposed.

He did sigh, now that he was alone and there were no witnesses to the crack in his infamous mask. Sakura was going to be a slight problem at the coming meeting; he could just feel it. It was bad enough that he had been lying to his mentor, Uchiha Madara, for the past three years for her sake. If she was faced with a comment, a test to try and catch Itachi on the lie, that she had no knowledge of, it was going to get messy very quickly. A part of him thought it would be a good idea to inform her of what he had been passing along to the elder Uchiha.

A more logical side of him told him that that would only end in Itachi meeting Sakura's temper at her worst.

Perhaps he would be lucky for once and Konan would explain everything to her. Pein still spoke with Madara frequently, so surely the two knew about his lies concerning his three long years of marriage and no children.

_Children_.

It was the one thing that could make him cringe. He knew that his mentor wanted him to be a father because his brother was 'dead' and he was the last Uchiha capable of having children.

Itachi knew what kind of father he would be, and he didn't want to put some poor kid through the same torture he was put through. He was not that cruel, regardless of what Sakura and millions of other people might say.

Besides, Sakura had made it rather clear that while she wanted children, it was only if they were not his.

He swore, somewhere in the depths of his mind. He had always held some sort of resentment towards Madara, but the man was just making things way to difficult. Sakura was not the compliant Lady Uchiha that Itachi had been condemned to in the days of his father's rule. She wasn't going to be obedient and polite like his mother.

No, she would kick and scream. She would fight them and their rules. She would not do what Madara would tell her to do, and a part of Itachi was envious of her ability to fight the immortal.

He only hoped that he wouldn't be caught in the middle.

* * *

A/N: This is the first time I have ever posted a prelude and a chapter together, but they're both so short that I had no choice.

_Help! I'm drowning! Throw me a review!_

_-Hikari Adams_


	3. Chapter Two: Paper Cranes

**_Serendipity_**

_Chapter Two_

_Paper Cranes_

* * *

Sakura hated the gatherings. They happened each year, and for the past three years she had spent them with Konan in silence. The last one had been in Ame, and Sakura had passed the night in Konan's private quarters, quietly learning the ancient art of origami. This time, however, Konan was with the other members involved in a private meeting with Madara. It was the first time since the fall of Konoha that a gathering had been held in the former Leaf, and Madara had called for the privacy to discuss the future of the world.

Sakura felt nauseous at the mere thought of his plans.

For the first time, Sakura actually wished for the company of one of them. Even if it was the loud, but polite, Kisame, she would have been fine. Itachi would have been all right. He was apathetic and cold, but just the presence of someone else would have made it easier as she sat in the decaying remains of her mentor's office.

The wood was beginning to rot without proper maintenance and exposure to the elements. The papers were beginning to brown, and the photographs that had once hung on the wall were now in complete disrepair, their frames broken and the glass smashed. There were scorch marks on the wall, the glass of the window blackened around the edges of the break. She could remember, with far too much accuracy, the attack that had sent the fireball through the window.

Sakura knew she looked out of place in her ebony silk kimono, with its bloody snow design and the crimson obi acting as the stage for myriad black snowflakes to dance across. Her hair, the exotic color of her namesake, was pinned up with silver and ruby sticks that she had inherited from some unnamed Uchiha woman of days long gone. She could remember the days she spent in that office—exhausted and covered in blood after a grueling day at the hospital or a tough mission.

The days when Tsunade was alive.

She didn't choke and cry the way she had the first time she had been forced to view the cruel destruction of her beloved home. She didn't think she had any tears to spare. They had all be used up in those bloody, brutal days of warfare before Konoha fell to the Akatsuki and before she had promised her hand to Itachi in exchange for the lives of the few who survived the carnage at the Hidden Leaf.

Hokage Mountain was no more, courtesy of Sakura herself. She had been unable to bear the thought of the leaders of old having the watch the fall of their great nation. She had destroyed it in her final act as a Konoha kunoichi, under the final orders of Tsunade herself. The cenotaph had been the second part of her last orders, and the monument was still sealed in a scroll in Sakura's bedroom, waiting to be returned to its rightful owners in the far north. The Hyuuga compound had been obliterated from the landscape, the longtime enemies of the Uchiha surviving only through a few children and a couple of Sakura's peers. The Academy had been demolished and replaced by a prison-like school for the precious few children born in Konoha.

Another depressing thought, Sakura reminded herself. She had always adored working in the maternity ward, seeing the cheerful faces of new and prospective mothers alike, and the glowing cheeks of infants seeing the world for the first time. She knew, from reading over the medical reports delivered to Itachi that the birth rate had been cut in half since the Akatsuki took control. She didn't blame anyone. She wouldn't want to bring an innocent life into this dark world, and certainly not in her situation.

Besides, Itachi wasn't exactly the family type.

The hospital had fallen apart, and the medics were a shame to those of Sakura's time and caliber. The sky seemed to be overcast all of the time, and she wondered if that was part of the new industry that had been brought in with Madara's regime. The Forest of Death had burned, and Ichiraku had gone up in flames with it.

She sighed, trying to ignore the unwelcome wind in the office. A few stray papers rustled in the wind, and she pulled one away from the stack on the desk that served as her seat. She almost laughed when she saw the mission assignment for Naruto. It was yellowed and crinkly, already old after five years. Idly, she began folding it, ignoring the way the stiff paper tore a little with each crease. Slowly, the familiar form of a crane began to take shape in her small hands.

"Hey, I was beginning to wonder where you had disappeared to."

Sakura tried not to jump at the sound of the alto behind her. She turned slightly, holding the crane as gently as she could, "Hello Aoi-san."

She stepped quietly into the room, the filtered moonlight dancing off of her bobbed white hair, as straight as the swords she forged. Sakura had always marveled at the elder woman's strange beauty. For a woman with navy blue skin and snowy white hair, she was breathtakingly beautiful. Her ocean and gold kimono was something that Sakura knew she hated. Every time she had seen the shark's fiancée, she had been decked out in fighter's garb, not the fine clothes of an upper-class lady.

"You're rarely far from Konan-san during these meetings," she said, taking a seat on the other end of the decrepit desk, her dark eyes watching the silver gem that hid behind the rolling clouds outside, "It must be hard without your usual companion. Especially here."

"You must be lonely too, Aoi-san," Sakura replied, beginning a second crane with one of Genma's mission reports, "I never see you without Kisame-san or one of the others."

She made a noise of agreement, "I never see you with Itachi-san, though."

Sakura froze momentarily, beginning her movements again after a beat, "I don't understand the significance of that."

"You're married, and yet you're never seen together," Aoi said, a knowing tone in her warm voice. The pinkette medic had always been envious of her voice. She had one of those voices that were rich and deep, the kind that made the world listen with rapt attention.

"Once again, I fail to see the significance."

Aoi moved closer to Sakura, one of her sapphire hands coming out to stop the younger woman from starting a new crane, "Come on, tell me what the deal is."

Sakura chuckled darkly, her emerald eyes turning up to the sky that she had once loved, "Let's see. I promised to marry the man that ruined my best friend's life and broke apart the closest thing to a family that I have ever had. In exchange he gave protection to my remaining friends. In the end, I'm stuck with him and they hate me because I actually fell so far that I was willing to marry him."

"Serendipity," she said, almost like a mother to an erroneous child.

"What?"

Aoi sighed, "It's the act of finding the good things without looking. Perhaps if you opened your mind a little, you might see that you have a lot of good things in your life. You shouldn't bee so bitter. You're too young for that, Sakura-san."

"Are you always this didactic?"

"I try to teach those who need it, yes."

"So what do you want me to do?" Sakura challenged.

The blue woman smirked, "What do you know about Itachi?"

She shifted, "A little. I make a point of not knowing about him."

"Has he ever been unfaithful?"

"Not that I know of," she replied, her curiosity at the conversation's direction growing, "Why?"

Aoi leaned a little closer, her velvety voice losing some of its volume, "Your friends are fickle. They wish to be in your good graces, but you are the worst of fallen angels among them. Tell me, would you place more love with those that turn their backs on you than the one who is unflinchingly loyal?"

Sakura made a noise to show her indignation, "I fail to see why love is necessary. My marriage was nothing more than a convenience to the both of us."

"I think you and Itachi would get along quite well," she said, leaning away, "You shouldn't be so cantankerous. Kisame-san, as well as some of the other people in Mizu, has told me that you were once a bubbly girl with so much love that she might outshine the sun. I find it hard to believe that something as trivial as this could break a young woman like that."

"You would be surprised, Aoi-san," Sakura began folding another crane as she pulled away from the aquatic hold of her companion, "I watched my home fall to darkness. I had to give up my freedom to save those that are ungrateful for my sacrifice. Tell me, would you be the same person after all of that?"

"No, but you're missing my point. You're not even trying to see what you have."

"And what is that?"

Her white hair swayed as she shook her head, "That's for you to find out. I can't give you the answers that you already know. You have to find these things out for yourself."

"Well, you're a fountain of knowledge today."

Aoi snorted, "And you're a regular cynic, kid. You should try listening to your elders."

"I listened to Tsunade-shishou," she hissed, her hands coming to a stop on the crane's wings, "I listened to Shizune-nee and Kakashi-sensei. I listened to Yamato-taichou, and I listened to Jiraiya-san when he was still alive and not being perverted. I listened to my elders, but they are no longer here."

"I see," the other nodded, "So that's what this is about. You can't condone Itachi and the others' existence because they ended the lives of so many of your loved ones."

"Yes."

"That's not a good enough reason."

Sakura started, "What?"

Aoi fixed her with a hard look, her arms crossing in front of her chest, "I said that that is not an acceptable reason to hate them. They killed your friends and family, yes, but it was a war. Death is what happens in war, that's a fact of life that no being can change. They killed those close to you, and yet they accepted you among them when you offered your life to Itachi. Tell me how that gives you the right to hate those that saved you from certain doom. You are alive right now, and your friends are alive right now, because of the Akatsuki. Remember that."

"Are you actually supporting them and what they've done?" she asked incredulously.

She shook her head, "No. I could never accept what they did. Do you know how I met Kisame?"

Sakura answered in the negative.

"I met him when I was a child," Aoi answered bluntly, "My father was his sensei, as well as the creator of the Seven. Kisame and I come from the same aboriginal tribe in Mizu. We're the largest tribe there, but we had begun dying out after some legislation came through. We began to lose our culture and our land, among other things. Kisame was a Kiri jonin by that time, and he began to retaliate against the legislators. It usually ended in death. Kisame was demonized because of it, and he had to leave Mizu. What happened afterwards is common knowledge, but I can tell you that he is not the same man I remember falling in love with all those years ago."

"Then why did you agree to marry him?"

She shrugged, "Hope, I suppose. A part of me still wishes that he's the same deep inside. Even the most hardened criminals have a soft interior; they have to. No matter how hard they try to hide it, they are still as human as you or me."

Sakura sighed, setting aside yet another crane, this one from one of her own hospital reports, "What are trying to tell me, Aoi-san?"

"That's for you to decide."

The medic, fed up with the ambiguous nature of the woman's lecture, turned towards her, only to find Aoi on the other side of the desk, seated peacefully in one of the old chairs.

"You think I'm happy with Itachi?"

"No, I think you should try to be."

Sakura turned away from her, determined to ignore the woman. Aoi was just trying to get her to see things the way she did, and Sakura had never liked being told what to do.

She sighed. She had thrown away all dreams of a happy family when she made the decision to marry Itachi. All ideas of having a loving husband and cheerful children had faded into oblivion with her choice. With Itachi, it would just be the two of them and the distance between them. There were simply too many differences and too much animosity between them to ever get along like a family.

Serendipity was impossible for her.

* * *

"Okay, so this is what we've got," a figure said, "Sakura-chan is living in Kumogakure, but she's currently in Konoha. When she returns, she's likely to come here."

"What do you want me to do?" a second said, the voice higher and more feminine.

The first turned to a third, who nodded almost imperceptivity, "I want you to try and find out what you can about how she's doing. If she's still unhappy, then we'll move ahead with our plans. If she's finding some kind of happiness," it was here that the third shadow gagged, "Then we shall leave her alone."

Hanabi set her hands on the table, leaning into the dim light of the desk lamp, "Naruto-kun, you're my sister's husband and you're supposed to be dead. Do you really think it's a good idea to try and do this? Tsunade-sama gave her life to resurrect you. Sakura-chan sacrificed her freedom to protect you. Even if she is unhappy, and I hate saying this because I love her just as much as you do, she made her choice. She's not going to be happy if we go barging in and ruining all of her work."

Naruto slumped. The third figure moved slightly, revealing the patrician profile of Uchiha Sasuke, "She's right, you fool. Sakura made a sacrifice for us. As much as I loathe the idea of her being Itachi's wife, I still know that he'll take care of her. She might not be happy, but she'll be content. She won't need anything from us except our cooperation with Itachi and his government. We don't want her sacrifice to be in vain."

The blonde nodded, "I know, but I don't want her to stay in there. If she can get away, then she'll have a chance to start over."

"With whom?" Hanabi questioned, "You're married to Hinata. Sasuke is married to me. Sai-san is practically married to Karin-san. Who does that leave Sakura-chan with? She's always wanted a family. I hate to be the one to say this, but she's got a better chance of a family with her current husband."

"No, she doesn't," Sasuke cut in, "But I do know my clan, and I know Madara will be like them. He'll want Itachi to have an heir, and Sakura will refuse. Hell, Itachi will likely refuse. It could get ugly."

"You are not agreeing with him," Hanabi began, her threat hanging heavy in her voice.

He shook his head, "No, I'm not agreeing with Naruto. However, I do think you should find out how she is, and try to keep tabs on her emotional condition. If Madara does something, or forces Itachi to do something, then I will demand that we move in and get her out of there. You can't disagree with that plan Hanabi."

She sighed, "No, I can't. However, Naruto-kun needs to not make plans anymore. Leave the planning to Sasuke and me."

"But Sakura-chan could be in danger!" he protested, "I swore to always look out for my family, and she is still a part of it. I am not leaving her to Itachi's mercy."

"My brother knows how to treat a woman, Naruto. Sakura will be fine."

Naruto shook his head, "I'm more worried about Madara."

"And we've just made the plans for that," Hanabi finished, "Stop worrying and go back to pretending to be dead. You and Sasuke have to be careful. Sakura-chan was gambling a lot when she lied to Itachi about exactly who was among the refugees when he gave us this land. We can't allow anyone on the outside, aside from Sakura-chan, to learn that the two of you are still breathing. The war has ended, Naruto-kun. We lost. Live with it," her voice turned quieter, like a lost child as she added, "Sakura-chan is."

Naruto reached out and covered her hand with his, "I know, Hanabi-chan. Just remember that the rebellion is growing. We can fight this."

"I'm trying, Naruto-kun," she answered earnestly, "I'm just trying not to think about what Sakura-chan will do when she realizes that her sacrifice was in vain."

To that, the number one knuckleheaded ninja could not reply. Then again, neither could Sasuke.

* * *

A/N: Another chapter for you rabid readers. Seriously, I have never had a reaction like this to a new story. I'm as surprised by the number of reviews for two chapters, posted together, as I am for the 60-some 'Snow' has gotten for four chapters. You readers are amazing.

A massive thank you to my beta, **Banira**, who got this done only to find that I had yet another chapter for her. I don't know how she puts up with me.

Another massive thank you to: **La Editor, ArjunaAnja, priscalthum, Sangi, Kinkatia, uchiha-sisters, Jester08, gare de lyon, Ninja12497, Chibi-Ra-Chan, ToxicDarts, susannajulia, NayanRoo, Kazumi Tachikawa, Hiei's Cute Girl, Saikagas, Spirit Seer, Meanna NeKo, SasukeSakuraxXXxItachiSakura, PeculiarlyOrdinary, TaintedImpurity, **and** Quiet Moon**. Thank you all for the support, as well as the two anonymous reviewers!

_A black pen bravely gave his life in the construction of this chapter. Please honor his memory and donate reviews for the charity that has been opened to protect pens from similar abuse. Thank you for your consideration._

* * *

_Still upset over the loss of her favorite pen,_

_Hikari Adams_


	4. Chapter Three: Lineage

**Serendipity**

_Chapter Three_

_Lineage_

* * *

"Itachi, is there any reason why Zetsu has an heir, and yet you do not?"

He tried not to sigh. Madara was a volatile man, his temper was impossible to predict, and Itachi had no desire to incite the ire of his mentor. He could only hope that Sakura had managed to find a way to escape the new administration building (also known as the center of the Uchiha prefecture, he noted dryly). Apparently, Madara's determination to revive the Uchiha clan was only matched by Sakura and Itachi's shared desire to let the clan die out. Not for the first time that night, Itachi wished he had his wife's tenacity and bravado.

"I have told you before, Madara-sama," he replied politely instead, "Mine was a political marriage. Gaining her trust has been taking a while. Sakura's instincts are greater, and she does not forget easily."

"Have you considered a mistress?" the elder Uchiha asked blandly, his back still to the younger as he stared out at the wasteland that was once the greatest Hidden Village in the world.

Itachi did sigh, internally, at his mentor's ignorance of the world, "The point is to gain Sakura's trust. Kaminari's peace hinges on a healthy relationship with her."

He left out the fact that Sakura, as much as she despised him, would likely take her fists to Kumo's ground, should he ever entertain the idea of infidelity.

"You have managed peace without it for three years, Itachi."

"That is because people do not expect much from a couple that has only been married for the past three years. It is not until the third and fourth years that expectations are to be met."

Madara did turn at that, "What are you saying, Itachi?"

The younger Uchiha hoped Sakura would not kill slaughter him for what he was about to say, because this was the one thing he knew he couldn't hide from her when they returned to Kumogakure.

"We have spoken of children," he lied effortlessly, "And we came to the agreement that it would be best in the next couple of years, as all rebellion attempts have finally died down."

Madara seemed to smile, his eyes unreadable. Itachi's lie had been perfectly delivered, and the statement itself was believable. There was nothing his mentor could do to call the lie.

"Bring her here."

Except that.

"Madara-sama," he began, using politeness to cover his slight annoyance, "I cannot recommend that action. She is a rather temperamental young woman. She is easily angered, especially by those of our bloodline."

"You seem to have no problem with her."

"She and I are used to one another."

"I'm sure she will be fine, Itachi."

Itachi, for all his expertise in silence, did not notice the servant until he had already been sent off to retrieve Sakura.

He really didn't want to face her. She had been upset enough when he had informed her of the gathering's location, and he had seen the pain she hid so well. She had fought with him initially, and probably would have kept fighting had she not seen the photograph of her with her former teammates.

Itachi almost laughed. Who would have thought that his dead brother and his dead target would have so much influence over his wife, nearly four years after the fact?

Three years ago, Sakura had been a young and defeated kunoichi of twenty. She had been fighting against the remainder of the holocaust against her people (his people too, his conscience reminded him) for a little over a year at that point. Without his brother and the fox, it was a like trying to hold back a hurricane with a piece of tissue. She couldn't do it alone, and he knew that there had been disagreements among the refugees.

Three years ago, Sakura had sought him out with an offer he couldn't refuse. He himself had been a step away from being married off to a docile thing of his mentor's choice. She had been a nice, pretty girl from a bloodline family, but Sakura had offered him something that little blonde couldn't: peace. Kaminari, with the highest number of refugees, had needed someone to stabilize the resentment with something gentler. The people needed to see one of their own in power. Haruno Sakura, beloved apprentice of the last Hokage, was the perfect candidate. Even the Konoha-hating natives of Kaminari adored her. No one could question his rule with her by his side.

Of course, he hadn't been counting on Sakura's lack of fear once she became used to him. Then again, he liked that about her. Meek and charming, like his mother, was not something he liked. Sakura was a walking contradiction, and it was interesting. She never failed to surprise him…

…or disappoint him.

Sakura had been a fiery girl when the true Kage ruled, and some of that infamous spark had returned when things settled down and she had been assured her friends was safe. However, she quickly became defeated when she was fighting and faced some sort of reminder of what she had sacrificed so much for. She loved too much, and was hurt too quickly in her youth. Now, when he needed her to love, she had cast it all away to become a more vocal and more caustic version of Itachi himself.

It was slightly depressing. He had been hoping that she would not let their arrangement deter her recover from the depression of losing everything in the war, but it had seemed that it was hindering her after all. He was the symbol of the war in her life. He was the reminder of his brother and the blonde supernova. He was the reminder of the patchwork family she had lost at his hand.

He hoped, allowing himself the luxury of hope, that Madara was not seriously expecting Itachi to become a father, because Itachi had heard some interesting rumors about Sakura and cheese graters, and he didn't want to face her wrath.

The door behind him opened slightly, and he turned to see his young wife step into the room. The dim light reflected off of her clothes—all hand-me-downs of his grandmother. Her expression was one of gentle kindness, but his practiced eye could see the dangerous flash in her viridian eyes. It was the one that threatened him with a lecture when they retired from Konoha.

It sometimes was a shame that he couldn't kill her and be done with it. He detested unnecessary killing, but he was certain that her death could be passed off as self-defense. Of course, Sakura was an interesting puzzle that he had yet to solve, and he never could let a puzzle go without unlocking its mysteries first.

"Hello, Sakura-san."

She bowed slightly, "Hello, Madara-_san_."

The lack of respect brought a minor flash of anger to his mentor's expression, and Itachi had to wonder if he should have warned the older Uchiha about Sakura's passive aggressive indignation towards all traditions of their clan.

"How are you?"

She smiled cordially, the expression familiar to Itachi. He idly wondered if Kisame would allow him to stay in Kiri for a while. Kumo was not going to be safe for a few days…or months. He really did dislike conflict, and domestic conflict had always been tasteless to him.

"I am fine, Madara-san. How are you?"

"Pleased," he answered, and Itachi glanced to the door.

Mathematically, it was possible for him to slip out before Sakura could reply, but he knew he couldn't beat the finely honed senses of the other two shinobi in the room. He was good, but he wasn't that good. Especially when the two were genjutsu specialists, eliminating his strongest ability from the playing field; he was doomed to stand and watch all of his carefully crafted lies come apart.

"And why is that?"

His mentor seemed to glance knowingly at Itachi, but the elder Uchiha had always been a master at surreptitious acts, so the younger never could tell if it was just a trick of the light.

"I hear that I should be expecting a trip to Kumogakure sometime in the next couple of years," he answered, smiling a smile that never did reach his dark eyes, "After all, it has been so long since a new generation of Uchiha has been welcomed into the world."

Itachi noticed the slight tension in her shoulders as she stiffened. It was a predictable response, and one he sincerely hoped his mentor would misinterpret. To Madara, perhaps it would seem as if she were nervous about such an 'esteemed' guest in Kumo. Sakura did play the part of a timid and helpless woman so well around him, even though Itachi was positive that she was seething on the inside.

"Ah, yes," she replied, her tone clipped and edgy, "I had actually forgotten all about that. We have talked about it, yes, and I suppose it just slipped my mind in the excitement of coming back to Konoha."

The younger Uchiha was mildly impressed. Sakura had never been noted for her acting abilities before the fall of her home. He wondered what other talents she had developed in the course of her new training. He knew Kumo was a rather mysterious place, and it guarded its tricks fiercely. She had found a teacher with relative ease, only by who she was without the marriage license, so perhaps she had progressed farther than he imagined.

"Well then, I expect to be hearing from you in the near future."

Sakura shifted her weight, as if trying to disperse the heavy tension that saturated the air around them, "Of course, Madara-san. You would be the first we'd tell. After all, you are family."

There was something about the way she said _family_ that made Itachi wish he was armed. Sure, he had weapons on his body, but they weren't easily reached through sly movements. He needed cunning, enough to match the fox of sunlight and blue sky. He needed a way to arm himself without drawing attention. He didn't know why, but Sakura had sounded as if she were issuing a challenge.

Knowing Sakura, that was probably what she had in mind.

A knock at the door seemed to calm the situation down, and all eyes turned to see Konan step lithely into the room, like the angel Ame saw her as. She bowed slightly at the waist as a greeting, straightening her back as she stood. With that same sleepy voice he remembered, she announced, "I do hope you pardon the intrusion, Madara-sama. Aoi-san would like to speak with Sakura-san, as would I. I believe Pein and Kisame-san have been looking for Itachi-san."

If it weren't for the fact that Konan was married to his former superior and would probably kill him, not to mention Sakura's fury (or amusement) and his unwillingness to act out of character, Itachi might have kissed the origami specialist for saving him from certain death.

But he was Uchiha Itachi, and he would never do such a thing, no matter how much the normal soul he kept locked in his mind wanted to. It was a matter of discipline.

With bows and parting words full of superficial politeness, Itachi and Sakura left the room. The pinkette vanished with the paper angel of Ame no Kuni, and he turned the opposing bend in the hall to find Pein and Kisame leaning against the wall, both staring straight at him.

"It's been awhile, Itachi-san," the shark greeted.

He nodded, "So it has."

Pein, however, offered no words of greeting, "How is Sakura-san?"

Itachi's attention was quickly focused on the auburn-haired shinobi, "She is fine. Why do you ask?"

He shrugged, "No reason. Konan has been picking up some interesting rumors, though. Apparently there's about to be another rebel attempt at freedom. It seems like Kumogakure is going to be their main target."

"That's understandable," Kisame noted, "Kumo, as well as Kaminari, is made up of thousands of refugees living alongside natives. Why not start where you are, instead of going after harder targets like Konoha or Kiri? Even Ame, with its high number of immigrants, is more loved."

Itachi shook his head, motioning for the two to walk with him. As the trio began to move, he began to speak softly, "There is no chance of a rebellion in Kumo or Kaminari. Konan must have what you said: rumors. No one will make a move against the government with Sakura in the position she's in."

"Are you sure they haven't wised up to the fact that she's never going to be hurt, even if they do retaliate?" the behemoth suggested, "I would think that after three years spotted with minor uprisings, they would figure out that you would never let her be hurt."

Pein nodded, "He's right, Itachi. Even though there is no real attachment to Sakura, there is bound to be someone old enough to remember that you are a gentleman at the core. Is it too much of a stretch to assume they would have joined the rebellion? Perhaps it is someone you have injured in some way."

"That is a very long list, Pein-san," he rebuked.

"Anyone in particular?"

He stopped at that, his memory drawing up the list of names Sakura had produced when he had asked for a roster of the Leaf exiles. Inuzuka Kiba, her contemporary, had not been on the list, but the other one had been.

"Inuzuka Hana," he finally replied, "She would join."

Kisame chuckled, "What'd you do, break her heart?"

"In essence, yes," Itachi replied blankly, "She was involved with my cousin."

The shark turned to inquire after which cousin, and Itachi simply activated the Mangekyo to let him know that it had been _that_ cousin. Shisui's ghost had always had a way of haunting him. Whether it was in the mirror or on the battlefield, his cousin's memory liked to taunt him.

And it seemed his love had finally come to claim her vengeance, a trait Inuzuka women were well known for possessing.

"Is there any chance that Sakura-san would join?"

"None," he replied sharply, "She and I had a deal. I have kept my end of it, and she has no reason to turn her back on our agreement. She knows the penalty if she does."

It was a bluff, and a very good one. Pein nodded and kept walking, but Kisame had given him a look that told him everything.

The shark knew that there was no penalty. Sakura could put the dagger in his heart herself, and Itachi would never raise a hand against the strong-willed kunoichi.

She was too interesting.

He sighed silently, moving forward to fall into step with his former colleagues, "Pein-san, how is Ayumu-kun?"

The boy was only three, and already the Rinnegan heir was causing a stir. As the son of Pein and Konan, the beloved leaders of Ame no Kuni, he was treated like royalty without question. He was just a year older that Deidara's little girl as he recalled—and Itachi did not want to think about the blonde's resurrection after detonating himself, so he tried to forget Iwa's existence as best he could—and the boy had quite famously taken a liking to the young Izayoi. His opinion of the other children was regarded as the most important among the young generation, so his acceptance of the girl had been seen as a good thing by her parents.

His dislike of Zetsu's little boy had caused a slightly strained relationship between Ame and Kusa. Of course, Itachi knew that Pein had never really liked the cannibal that much, and was glad that he had a valid excuse to skip out on meetings with the spilt personalities that were the plant man.

"Itachi-san?"

It took the younger of the men a few beats to realize the shark had addressed him.

"Yes, Kisame-san?"

"We asked how Sakura-san was doing," Pein said calmly, "Konan mentioned something about Madara inquiring after heirs to your legacy."

Itachi fought the urge to scream, "Yes, children. Kisame-san, do you think I could stay in Kiri for a few months?"

The blue man frowned, wary of his former comrade, "Why?"

"Because after tonight, Sakura is going to actively try to kill me."

"Why? After three years, I would think she'd be used to you."

Itachi nodded, "Yes, but I essentially promised Madara an heir before I turn thirty in two years' time. I do not wish to return home and find myself facing an assassin in the form of my wife."

Kisame chuckled, and Itachi saw Pein fighting the amusement as well. The shark recovered enough to reply, "Sorry, Itachi-san. You're on your own for this one."

Pein shook his head when the raven-haired man tried to appeal to him.

Oh yes, Uchiha Itachi had wonderful (almost, sometimes, other ambiguous adjectives) friends.

* * *

A/N: I liked writing this chapter. Itachi is fun to write, and that's why this was split off into an individual chapter, instead of staying on the end of last chapter like it was supposed to be. It's strange not writing depressing and suspenseful stories. This actually seems to be moving really slow when I compare it to 'Snow' and the others.

A huge thank you goes to the wonderful** Banira** for her amazing patience with my hectic schedule.

Another huge thank you goes to: **La Editor, gare de lyon, Ravyn, Chibi-Ra-Chan, L0stL0ve, Jester08, Hiei's Cute Girl, Blackscarlet47, BlackButterfly-RedRose, Spirit Seer, BlackElement7, Cherry-Hime-chan, ArjunaAnja, Mikomi-chan, Quiet Moon, uchiha-sisters, knightchaser, Mei fa-chan, Kinkatia, PeculiarlyOrdinary, Nina12497 **(I am so sorry for misspelling it last chapter)**, **and **TaintedImpurity.**

_I misspelled Nina12497's name in the last chapter. Please help me buy a dictionary of pennames. I'm only a few reviews short._

_Hikari Adams_


	5. Chapter Four: Sunlight through the Storm

_**Serendipity**_

_Chapter Four_

_Sunlight through the Storm_

* * *

"What did you promise him?" she hissed. Sakura had been fuming since Konoha, but she had waited to speak to him until returning to Kumo. Itachi had appreciated her decorum, and had been stoically thrilled with the extra planning time. So he wasn't surprised that the second they were alone, she had dragged him to her room, demanding answers.

"An heir."

"When?"

"In the next two years," he answered calmly, seated at her desk and Sakura herself paced around the room like an angry wolf locked in a small cage, "And he's expecting an heir for both Kumo and Konoha."

Sakura froze, "Two children?"

He nodded curtly.

Her viridian eyes sparkled dangerously, her fury rising further, "No."

Itachi sighed, "I will try to find a way around this, but I cannot make any promises."

"So what happens if you don't find a way out of this mess?"

"Then we will work something out."

She rounded on him, the air weighing heavily in the room as her killer intent raised its graceful head from the depths of her memory, "That's not good enough, Uchiha. What happened to all of your meticulous planning?"

He frowned, "This isn't something that can be planned out carefully. Dealing with you on one side and Madara on the other isn't easy. If one of you would calm down and stabilize, then I would be able to plan."

"I am stable," she retorted, "I have already made it clear what I will tolerate and what I won't, and as far as I'm concerned, the arrangement we've had for the past three years is still perfectly working."

"Things change," he said, his voice monotonous and downy, "Madara will be interfering more, and we will have to become accustomed to spending more time with one another."

She shook her head, "You don't understand where I'm coming from. When we were married, I thought I made it clear that this was strictly a political arrangement. There would be no children, because if there is no heir, than both Kumo and Konoha can return to their rightful rulers."

"What will happen is that the two territories will be absorbed by another, more likely Iwa and Ame. Izayoi-chan and Ayumu-kun will be ruling over the lands, probably together."

"Both are children," she hissed, "It's possible that any rebellion attempts could get rid of them easily."

"Izayoi-chan possibly," he mused, "But Ayumu-kun is untouchable. Not only that, but how can the rebellion be strong? The biggest cell was here in Kaminari, but with no one to lead, what can they do? Unless you know something I don't?"

Sakura swallowed a bitter retort. She did know something, and Itachi's carefully chosen words revealed that he was aware of her knowledge. He didn't know what it was that she knew, but he knew there was something. Naruto and Sasuke were alive, and they were leading any rebellion attempt, Sakura knew. She didn't know if there was one because, as the Raikage's wife, she wasn't trusted as much anymore. A part of her hoped that there was one, but of course, her two reckless friends would be in danger if they tried anything.

"I know nothing," she answered, her face a flawless blank.

It was like an intricate chess game played on storm clouds. At any given moment, everything could change. Sakura's fury was still humming, burning like lightening. Itachi was calm, the eerie stillness before the sky unleashed his wrath. Something had to give, but neither one was moving.

"It's been three years," Itachi spoke softly, quietly, and in a measured tone that told Sakura he knew what was running through her head, "After so many years, aren't the people of Kaminari, as well as other lands, expecting an heir?"

She snorted; crossing her arms brusquely, "It's _my_ body."

"And it will be your problem," he countered, "Should Madara make a move to ensure the survival of the Uchiha."

Sakura's jaw was clenched as she _tried_ to reign in her temper. In three years of marriage, Itachi had never shown anger towards her, nor had he shown any other emotion. However, he was still dangerous, she knew, and he was also exponentially stronger than she. As much as she felt like striking him, she knew better than to push her luck.

Her chakra gathered instinctively at her hands and feet, her fingers curling into a fist.

"Please don't destroy the building while we're in it."

She snapped, "I'm not an idiot. I'm not going to take out a wall. Now will you shut up and let me finish calculating the amount of force it would take to only destroy the floor beneath your chair."

"Depends on whether or not you truly have the control for such a precise blast."

Her veins felt like fire was coursing through her body, surfing on her blood. Never, since the fall of Konoha, had she felt such chaste fury. Even then, she struggled to remember the last time she was so livid. Viridian eyes, glowing like those of the demons so many innocent souls had been forced to bear over the years, narrowed dangerously. Her fist tightened enough to sent rivulets of sangria satin down her snowy skin.

"Don't," she hissed, venom dripping off the letters, "You can question my loyalty. You can question my sincerity. You can question just about anything you want about me. I don't care. But don't you dare question my skill."

Something flickered through his eyes, a shooting comet through cobalt black. Though his face remained impassive, she was certain she had seen it. She recognized it too, from spending so many years near Sasuke.

He was laughing at her.

The chakra went to her foot, and she lifted up her heel, surreptitiously bringing it down on the wood floor.

Itachi, his eyes flaring to modena blood, moved in a blur. He was at the other side of the room, one hand on the door as the chair he had been seated in vanished into the perfect circle she had created. Inwardly, he was impressed by her show of control, though her emotional reigns were rather lax.

It was another of the reasons he trusted her to have faith in his abilities. She had a thought process that was eerily similar to his own, but her emotions had a tendency to interfere. The result was a surprising lack of belief. She expected him to fail, and was more likely to be immutable in her attitude towards his actions. He sighed inwardly. Sakura was a force of nature, and it was tiring to try and deal with her, but she was interesting that way.

"My apologies," he gave, "I did not mean to offend you. Will you be traveling to the north anytime soon?"

She stiffened. She had been expecting a polemic, at least on her part, and yet he was apologizing. Sakura coughed a little, relaxing her tense form, "Yes. I'll leave tomorrow. Hanabi-chan should be expecting me."

He nodded curtly, but did not leave the room. Instead, he moved to sit on her bed, looking perfectly at home on her lovat blanket. He was staring at her, his midnight eyes examining her intensely. Sakura fought the urge to fidget, unaccustomed to holding Itachi's attention for more than a few moments at a time.

It was one of the things she had never been able to understand. For someone so placid, he was intense. Not even Sasuke had been so concentrated in his everyday behavior. Itachi was something else. Sakura had always thought of her dark teammate as being a bit like a fire. He was someone in a constant state of flux, and she had stood too close one too many times, leaving her with indelible burns.

"Are you happy?"

Itachi's sudden question caused her to jump, his silken voice gentle with the inquiry. She regarded him carefully, unsure of what to do, "Why do you ask?"  
He shrugged, "It has been three years. You seem to have settled into this life quite well, but I wish to know if you are happy."

Sakura opened her mouth to reply, but found that she could not.

Was she happy? She had lost her childhood friends, yes, and any chance of belonging to the remnants of Konoha. She had gained, in exchange, the odd friendships of Konan and Aoi. She had gained the respect of several Akatsuki, and she had an odd peace with Itachi. That was simply complacency, however. It didn't answer the question of happiness.

"I don't know."

"Tell me when you figure it out," he requested politely, onyx eyes, not the deep cobalt of his brother, sweeping over her room, "Why is there only one picture?"

Her attention turned to the ancient photograph of the original Team Seven. It sat on her small writing desk, almost obscured by the various medical reports she had agreed to look over. Itachi had always known it was there, but he had never asked about it. Sakura wasn't even sure why she kept it. Kakashi was dead, Sasuke didn't speak to her, and she couldn't bear to look at Naruto. It was just a painful reminder, much like the hundreds of other photographs stored at the back of her armoire.

"I don't know."

Itachi gave her an odd expression, one that she had come to recognize as his smile, "You seem to be saying that quite a bit."

She nodded, moving to sit near the head of her bed, far enough away from the Uchiha that she wasn't uncomfortable with, but close enough that some of the hostility in the room vanished, "What will Madara do if we fail to find an alternative?"

"Try not to think of unpleasant things," he replied, "We'll deal with it when the time comes. Tell me why you are so opposed to children."

Sakura sighed, "I'm not opposed to children. I actually adore them. I just don't think I could live with myself if I forced an innocent life to endure this cruel world."

"That's not your reason."

"I don't want them to be subject to Madara's tyranny," she admitted, "I've always wanted kids, but if it means putting them through that nightmare, then I'm willing to give up that wish."

Itachi nodded, "I agree."

Virescent eyes widened, "You do?"

"I myself was a child forced to follow Madara," he explained softly, "I would never wish that on anyone. Even though I had lost all shreds of innocence by that time, I was still a child."

"It must have been terrible," she muttered, more to herself as she thought of Sai and the horrors Danzou had put him through.

It was unprecedented for the two to speak with one another for more than a couple of minutes. Perhaps it was the shock of Madara's order that drove the two to tolerate each other for so long. Perhaps Konan and Aoi's gentle pleas for acquiescence had affected the pinkette more than she had initially believed. Perhaps, after three years, it was time for change.

"It was," he slowly confessed, "I never wanted children. Still don't."

"Why?"

She heard him sigh, a familiar act appearing in a bout of unfamiliar behavior, "I've always been afraid of becoming my father. I know that I would be different, but because of him, there are things that I know I am incapable of."

"I suppose we'll never know."

"I suppose," he agreed.

She fiddled with the sleeve of her yukata, "I think you should leave."

The conversation was getting to close for her tastes. She had entered the marriage as a sacrifice, not as someone willing to get along with the other. Itachi was becoming too human for her to remain unaffected. Neither one was thinking properly in the aftermath of Madara's incomprehensible demand for a child.

She needed to get away.

* * *

Shuisei's hooves clicked along the rocky path. The mare, all gentle curves of chocolate with a silky mane and tail of cream, trotted towards the settlement of refugees. A figure in the distance, waved, a grey yukata fluttering in the wind. The hamlet was set high in the mountains, tucked away where it couldn't be seen from the sky. A small collection of small, traditional homes gathered around a communal well made up a Spartan landscape. Harsh and unforgiving, many of the refugees had died within the first year. Only a handful, most of them of Konoha descent, survived.

Sakura's brown traveling cloak twisted in the wind as she dismounted, leading Shuisei by the reigns. Uchiha Hanabi was a strange woman. Just a breath away from her twentieth birthday, the Hyuuga survivor was more like a seasoned woman in a harsh world. She was the de facto leader of the village since neither Naruto nor Sasuke could deal with the outside world. She was levelheaded and strong-willed. As the mighty oak stood against the tempest, Hanabi had led the survivors in the wake of Sakura's marriage. Many more would have died had it not been for her calm demeanor and diplomatic personality.

"It's been a while, Sakura-chan," she greeted.

"So it has," the pinkette replied, trying to forget the fact that she hadn't been invited to the small Uchiha wedding just seven months prior, "How is everything?"

The former kunoichi nodded, "Good. Karin-san is finally settling down. I think Sai-san was willing to kill her himself if she didn't calm down a little more. I'd never seen him so aggravated before."

"That's good to hear," Sakura giggled softly, still trying to break free of the restraining behavior she was forced to keep in Kumo, "How is Hana-san?"

"As good as can be expected. Akamaru was finally given to Hinata-nee. Hana-san has been struggling since the annihilation of the Inuzuka. Without her dogs, she's at a complete loss of what to do," Hanabi sighed, "Luckily, Sasuke mysteriously found Kakashi's summoning scroll and now Hana-san has the company of his dogs."

A sly grin made it's way across Sakura's face, the expression hidden in the depths of her hood, "What about Yamato-taichou?"

Hanabi chuckled, "Doing a wonderful job as the foster parent for so many war orphans. Originally, Shizune and Genma's little girl was going to be adopted by Sai-san and Karin-san, but she was so attached to Yamato-san that she refused to leave him."

"How's Taiyo-kun?"

The Hyuuga survivor frowned, her thoughts turning towards her young cousin, "He's doing fine. It's been hard on him since Tenten-san died, but he's adjusted well. He's Neji-nii's boy, he'll be fine."

"I see," Sakura could hear the hopeful conviction in her tone, "And what about Sora-chan?"

"She's a blind Nara," Hanabi deadpanned, "I don't know who it's harder on, her or Shikamaru-san. Temari-san probably could have dealt with it, but when she died things got tough. Still, Sora-chan's a tough cookie. Shikamaru-san is too smart to fall apart, and she's a lot like him."

The medic nodded, "That's good to hear. I know Kurenai-san has had some troubles since Anko-san died. How has she been?"

"Good, I suppose. She's mainly been helping Yamato-san with the orphans. There's a betting pool going on right now. I think Ayame-san is going to win. Years of working at her father's ramen stand have really helped her predict people's behavior."

"How's Hinata?"

"Onee-chan is doing better. It's been hard since Youko-chan died, but she has Takumi-kun to help her through it all."

"And her husband," Sakura whispered, "Just what has he been up to lately?"

Hanabi stiffened, her lavender eyes carefully avoiding the Raikage's wife, "He's been good, and so has my Raijin."

Sakura inwardly scoffed at the pseudonym Hanabi had taken to using for Sasuke. It was appropriate, considering his ability to control lightening and his penchant for using storms as weapons. Still, it was odd, considering the fact that Sasuke had a deep hatred for mythology, that Hanabi would continue to use the name for him.

As the two women bypassed the main entrance to the village in favor of a small crevice in the mountainside, Sakura smiled warmly. Just inside the cave, a torch held in his hands, was a very familiar figure.

"It's been a while, Sakura-chan," his voice, deeper than it was in their youth, reverberated throughout the small entrance.

She moved a little faster, jogging to reach him faster until she was close enough to throw her arms around him, "It's so good to see you, Naruto-kun."

* * *

_Glossary_

Modena: crimson

Lovat: grey-green; blue-green

Virescent: of a greenish color

I was working on this alongside the next chapter of _Lady Masquerade_, the story I've currently got on fictionpress. Writing Elizabeth's history just gave me the tiny bit of inspiration I needed to write this out.

A huge thank you goes to the numerous reviewers. I've really enjoyed reading your thoughts on 'Serendipity', and I'm glad you've all enjoyed this.

_For those of you who think, like me, that Sakura is being a child, say 'Aye'. _

_Hikari Adams_


	6. Chapter Five: Bittersweet

_**Serendipity**_

_Chapter Five_

_Bittersweet_

* * *

"How have you been?" the blonde man asked, actually having the mind to pour his guest and sister-in-law tea.

Sakura smiled warmly, inhaling the velvety scent of cinnamon, "Okay. It's been a little slow since my usual training partner has been called away for a family emergency in the countryside. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually thankful that there isn't a proper medic in the Akatsuki."

"Why?" Hanabi scoffed, her grey yukata brushing against the oak table as she picked up her teacup, "I would have thought you'd like the freedom from work."

"I do, but I get so bored. The medical reports from Kaminari and the other nations are all that keep me sane these days."

Naruto frowned, the expression looking terribly out of place on his whiskered face, "Are you happy, Sakura-chan?"

She sighed heavily, leaning back against her chair, "What is with everyone asking me that?"

The small room was in Hanabi's home. Without children, it was decided that the Uchiha household would be the best place to receive the weary guest. It was open and well lit, a far cry from the dark hole of Orochimaru's lair, the cruel system of tunnels that Sakura remembered from that fateful reunion of Team Seven. The cave walls had been lined with wood, a gentle blue covering the panels. A low oak table was in the middle of the room, four oddly shaped chairs on the ground around it. The odd design of the furniture carried onto the bookshelves against the wall, the familiar and unfamiliar scrolls remnants of the great Uchiha and Hyuuga libraries. Beneath her feet, Sakura had been surprised to find a plush navy carpet. It had taken her a few moments to recognize it as the rug she and Naruto had dragged into Sasuke's new apartment, when they were decorating for his return.

"Someone else asked?" Hanabi's voice, a lower clarinet to her sister's high flute, wrapped around the comfortable atmosphere easily.

The pinkette nodded, "Itachi asked me before I came here."

Across from her, Naruto stiffened. She briefly wondered if it was the name itself, or her casual use of it that disturbed him. Then again, she had said it in a way that could be construed as a wife reacting to her husband's concern.

Of course, Sakura had a sneaking suspicion that Itachi wasn't as emotionless as he seemed to be, so it might have been concern.

"And?" the younger woman's question was too eager, to full of anticipation of the answer.

Sakura raised an eyebrow at Hanabi's inquiry, "Since when are you a gossiper?"

The shoulders of the liard yukata moved up and down as the brumel woman shrugged, "You're our only link to the outside. Even if it's listening to your domestic issues, it's still news from beyond."

The pinkette regarded her two friends carefully. In the aftermath of her marriage, only Naruto and Hanabi had stayed beside her. Sakura wasn't that surprised by it, but it had still hurt. Never, in all her years, had Hanabi betrayed her. She wished she could say the same for Naruto, but he had abandoned her for three years following Sasuke's defection. Sakura had tried for years to forget the pain of being left behind, but it had never quite faded.

Naruto had mellowed over the years. Losing Konoha and so many of his loved ones had forced him to calm down. He was to be the Rokudaime, and the ceremony had actually been the day of Madara's attack. Sakura had never really wondered what exactly that had done to him, the loss of his dream when it was within reach. She tried not to linger on the thoughts.

Tsunade had also affected him, possibly more than the loss of Jiraiya and Kakashi combined. She had used an altered form of Chiyo's jutsu to revive the blonde. Sakura hadn't been there at the time, but she had seen the aftermath. Naruto had been permanently affected by the sight of the true Tsunade, lying dead beside him as he awoke from the removal of the Kyuubi.

The blonde had grown up, losing what little innocence he had held onto. Dialogue with him had become serious faster, a life on the run hardening the softhearted shinobi he had been. His famous innocence had been lost, a feather stolen by the wind.

Hanabi had merely grown up. She had been but a child when Konoha fell, and she had come into her own after. She was levelheaded, calm, and a strong leader. She was the moral support that Sakura had once been, back in the golden age. Sometimes, the pinkette suspected her relations with her brother-in-law would be much worse, had his wife been anyone else.

"I'm fine," she answered blandly, "What about you, Naruto-kun?"

He shrugged, "It's been hard since Youko died, but it's been good. I miss training, but Hanabi here manages to keep us busy."

Sakura frowned at the mention of the girl. Uzumaki Youko had been Naruto and Hinata's only daughter. As the younger of the twins, her entire family had doted on her. At three, she had had her father's sunlight hair; her blank azure eyes a remnant of her Hyuuga blood. She had died in the last epidemic several months ago. Sakura herself had come to treat her, but in the end, nothing could save her.

"So, Sakura-chan," Hanabi cut in, "How was your trip to Konoha?"

Her frown deepened. Across from her, Naruto stilled, his hands around his teacup. She bit her lip before answering, viridian eyes focused on her friend, "Confusing. Konan-san and Aoi-san kept me occupied most of the time. Apparently people are starting to catch onto the fact that my marriage to Itachi was nothing more than a political move. As for Madara, he's beginning to demand children. Itachi bought us about two years to try and figure out how to avoid complying with Madara's demands."

"Sakura-chan," Naruto asked softly, blue eyes hidden behind his lashes, "Do you love Itachi?"

"No," she answered quickly, "I like the guy just fine, but I wouldn't push it."

Hanabi hummed, "So if you were to leave him, it wouldn't matter, right?"

"Wrong," Sakura snapped. The two flinched, and she scowled, "Just what are the two of you plotting? Itachi's already suspicious. I don't think he knows Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun are still alive, but I'm not willing to risk it. You promised me you would stay put and not do anything stupid. If you're planning another rebellion, that definitely qualifies as stupid."

"But, Sakura-chan!"

"There's nothing to argue about," she hissed, "I made my choices and right now, those choices are all that's keeping you alive. Please don't ruin my work."

"If you get hurt, your choices mean nothing."

Both Team Kakashi veterans turned to face the youngest member of the group. Hanabi was sitting still, her shoulders stiff as her hands clenched over her knees. Her mouth was set in a firm frown, her brow creased above her lavender eyes. Sakura had never seen the girl so focused on something, nor had she seen her so conflicted.

"Explain."

Hanabi took a breath, "If you get hurt because you refuse to do what Madara says, then your choices mean nothing. We're not going to stand by and let that happen."

"And I thought I told you my brother would take care of her."

Sakura grinned, "Hello, Sasuke."

The younger Uchiha hummed in answer, sitting down across from Hanabi at the table. Naruto silently poured another cup of tea, pushing it towards the male.

His raven hair was longer than Sakura remembered, tied up at the crown of his skull. The strands framing his face made him seem younger, somehow, contrasting sharply with his porcelain skin. His navy clothes were plain, though the pinkette was strongly reminded of Jiraiya. He looked healthy, and that was all that really mattered.

"I thought I heard you, Sakura," the words rolled easily through the air, his baritone voice surprisingly similar to his brother's, "How have you been?"

"Good, and you?"

"Good, so long as these two shut up."

She bit back a laugh, "So what were you saying?"

He shrugged, "My brother knows how to take care of a woman, as I have told these idiots before."

"Then perhaps you should take some lessons," Hanabi snapped, "And learn not to call me an idiot, you fool."

Sakura met Naruto's gaze across the table. She mouthed, "Are they always like this?"

He just nodded.

"I wish I could help you with Madara, though," Sasuke muttered, taking a sip of tea, "Sadly, I can't. Other than that, how's life? I want details. You have no idea how mind-numbingly boring it is to only have these two to talk to."

She didn't comment on the fact that he didn't mention Hinata. It was unspoken, but there was an agreement that the two women would always be kept apart. Sasuke had settled down and let go of some of his anger towards Sakura after years of Hanabi's bullying, but Hinata had never moved on.

And then Youko died.

Hinata had never forgiven her for marrying Itachi. In her eyes, Sakura had given up when they could have fought. She had relented a little, but then the epidemic swept through, and Sakura had failed to save Hinata's daughter. She had been a distraught mother. Sakura was conveniently in the perfect place to shoulder the blame.

"Nothing much," she answered, "I train a lot. I recently started doing origami all the time. It's wonderful for stress relief. I'm going to have to think of something to properly thank Konan-san with."

"Medical?"

She smiled slightly, "Kisame-san is preparing to completely reconstruct Mizu's medical system. I've been kept busy with that for the past few weeks, and there have been some problems in Kaminari. Flu season is gearing up again. I've been working constantly on finishing up Shizune-nee's research into a vaccine."

"How's Itachi?"

Sakura stiffened a little at Sasuke's nonchalant question. She turned, jade eyes finding Hanabi with the silent request for information. The former kunoichi just shrugged, refilling Sakura's teacup with the enchanting cinnamon liquid.

A year ago, Sasuke never would have asked about his brother, unless it was to ask if the elder Uchiha had finally died.

"He's been a little stressed, but fine."

"That's good," he replied, "Dealing with Madara, I'd expect him to be in worse shape."

"Kaminari is usually ignored by Madara," Sakura explained, "He trusts Itachi and Pein, which is why Ame is also left on its own. Personally I think that's a terrible idea, but the man is strange."

"What was Konoha like?" Naruto's question was so soft Sakura nearly missed it.

She sighed heavily, "The same. Overcast and dark. I went to the old administrative building while I was there. I found an old mission request for you, Naruto-kun. It's in complete disarray. Papers and rot everywhere, even the scorch marks remain."

Beside her, Sasuke stiffened. He mumbled an apology, cobalt eyes looking away.

"It wasn't your fault," she whispered, "How could you have possibly known that Pein would redirect your attack?"

"Sakura-chan's right," Naruto traced his finger around the rim of his cup, "None of us could have expected anything to happen that day."

"Doesn't make it any easier."

Hanabi clapped her hands, her face lighting up, "Okay, moving on from the depressing stuff! Sakura-chan, how long will you be here for?"

"Not long," she answered, "After last time, I think it would be better if I left a little before dawn."

No one could argue with her.

* * *

Sakura yawned as she dressed quietly in the clothes she had packed. Shuisei would be rested and ready for a day of traveling. Stepping silently out of the room Hanabi had forced her into last night; she made her way through the house, trying not to wake anyone. She rounded a corner, heading straight for the door, when an onigiri was forced in front of her face.

"Eat it."

She scowled, "Sasuke, you don't need to look after me like this. I'm not a child."

"Eat it," he repeated, holding the rice ball for her to take, "You've got to cover a lot of ground today. You shouldn't be traveling like that on an empty stomach."

"I did much worse when I worked for Konoha, Sasuke," a sly grin made its way across her features, "Are you trying to suggest that I'm rusty, Uchiha-san?"

His smirk was faint, but the light in his cobalt eyes made it worth it, "Perhaps. Besides, Hanabi will skin me alive if she finds out I let you go without food."

She took the rice ball without question, biting into it. It was plain, but knowing Hanabi, there was a ball of violent wasabi in the center. Hanabi was known for deceptive cooking, but it was all good, and Sakura knew that she would have been a fool to refuse the offer. While she had done worse in her years as a warrior of the Leaf, she had always had soldier pills to keep her going, something she no longer had access to.

"I take it Shuisei is at the mouth of the cave?"

"And ready to go," he finished, "I put her out there myself."

"Are you always up this early?"

He grinned cheekily, "Taijutsu. I can't sit still without training for very long, so I usually sneak outside and practice in the mornings. Sometimes I take a katana with me."

"Interesting," she mocked, "I can't imagine life without the other arts. If my chakra had to remain suppressed the entire time, I think I would go insane."

"You're already insane, Haruno."

She smiled softly at the use of her maiden name, though he had already turned away from her. He held up a hand to wave goodbye, and she stifled a laugh, "Thank you, Sasuke-kun."

The walk to the mouth of the cave was relatively short. Her trusted mare greeted her with a snort as she tied her cloak around her shoulders, the hood coming up to hide her famous locks. She quickly untied the horse and prepared to mount when a voice interrupted her.

"So it was you."

She froze, one foot in a stirrup and her leg halfway over the horse. She sighed heavily, settling in the saddle before pulling her hood down, "Hello, Hinata-san."

The elder Hyuuga sister hadn't changed much. Her face was still round and childish; her eyes still blank pearly lilac. Her indigo hair had been cut short following Konoha's demise, and it remained short.

"You're going already?"

"I can tell when I'm not welcome."

The other woman nodded, shifting the laundry in her arms, "Takumi was asking about you. I take it Naruto will have some more stories to tell."

"I suppose."

Uzumaki Takumi had been a favorite of Sakura's. Youko's twin brother was a sweet boy. He was energetic and charming, and he cared deeply about his family and friends. Sakura sometimes wondered if he had even realized that his vivacious personality was all that kept his mother sane.

"Did you even go into town?"

Sakura scowled, pulling the hood up again, "As I said, I can tell when I'm not welcome."

"Yamato-san doesn't hold it against you," Sakura would have taken Hinata's comment as something truly consoling, but she could hear the distaste in her soprano voice.

"He doesn't hold a lot of things against a lot of people," she replied politely, "He understands that people aren't perfect. Humans make mistakes."

"And sometimes people die."

"And sometimes people die," Sakura echoed, "Have a good life, Uzumaki-san."

"Same to you, Uchiha-san."

Shuisei moved at Sakura's command, trotting away. Her cloak billowed in the wind, and she wondered if the frail Hinata was able to hold onto her burden of cloth in the growing tempest. She also wondered if her former friend had stayed to watch her leave.

She didn't look back to see.

* * *

Glossary:

Brumel: like winter

Liard: grey; dapple-grey

* * *

I was without internet access for a day, and this is what came of it. I'm trying to get everything written and posted before I leave next week. I'm hoping to get the new chapters of 'Forever' and 'Snow' done before then.

Thank you, Banira, who caught the odd line and other mistakes, and thank you every reviewer.

Hikari Adams


	7. Chapter Six: Muddy Water

_**Serendipity**_

_Chapter Six_

_Muddy Water_

* * *

"How were things in the north?"

Sakura pulled off her reading glasses, sighing heavily. She set them down on her desk, along with her brush, before turning. Itachi leaned against her bedroom door, dressed for the night with his sable hair falling loose around his shoulders.

"You'll have my report by tomorrow afternoon," she responded, "I'll tell you everything then."

_Except the information about Naruto and Sasuke_, she added in her mind.

"Perhaps I would like to talk now."

She frowned, "Itachi, why are you here?"

"I told you, I wish to talk," he responded.

Sakura's frown deepened, "You never talk."

"We will both be making sacrifices in the coming months."

"And why is that?"

"Madara," he responded simply.

Sakura inwardly cursed. Of course Madara was the reason he wanted to talk.

"I fail to see why that is a good incentive."

He made a sound that was possibly related to a chuckle, but this was Uchiha Itachi. He never chuckled. He didn't have a sense of humor, unless it was so dry it had evaporated under the influence of the hatred. He almost frowned when Sakura refused to turn, "We will have to appear together more often. He needs to believe that this marriage is working. To successfully buy time, we need to at least know enough about each other that no suspicion will be raised."

She sighed, knowing he was right, "So talk."

"Madara will increase his spies within Kaminari and Kumogakure alike. We need to give the impression that we actually spend time with one another."

"Yes, I had gathered that," she responded, taking up her brush and glasses once again.

If it had been anyone else, Itachi would have sighed. Instead, he looked about her room before asking, "When did you start to wear glasses?"

"Shortly before the fall of Konoha," she deadpanned, though distantly as she focused on the paper before her. She was silent for a moment, her hand pausing until she asked, "Why aren't you wearing glasses? Your eyesight is worse than mine."

He didn't respond, but she already knew it was because of his pride. He asked a different question, "Why is there only one photograph in here?"

She stiffened, viridian eyes glancing over at the innocent frame around the picture. It was old and surprisingly not in horrible condition. She had carried it with her everywhere since the fall, only putting it in a frame when she married. In it, Sakura was between her boys. They were all smiling, and they all had a reason to. It had just been announced that Naruto would succeed Tsunade as the Hokage, and Sasuke had gotten the approval from the Hyuuga clan to marry Hanabi. Sakura had them and they were happy. Back then, that was all she needed to smile.

"Because it's the only one that matters," she finally answered.

"So you do not wish to remember your family, or your other friends?"

Sakura stiffened, answering tersely, "I have no family. My other friends are mostly living in the north."

She left out the fact that Ino had been her closest friend, but the blonde had been lost. She had never informed Itachi of the high death rate in the refugee settlement. He was required to pass that information along to Madara and Sakura's pride wouldn't let her give

She heard him pick up something from her bedside table, and then heard pages flipping. Sakura stiffened. The only book she kept on that table was a copy of the _Hagakure _that Sasuke had given her before the war. It was a copy that had the child Sasuke's notes written in the margins, including comments concerning his brother and the massacre.

"Put that down," she whispered, pulling her glasses off and standing fast enough to send her chair tumbling to the floor.

He had it opened to a page, reading silently with ambivalent eyes, "I thought you said you had no family."

She stiffened, seeing the photograph she had tucked inside the pages. It was one of many she had stored in the tome, but why had it been that photograph that he stopped at?

"I had not been on speaking terms with them for some years prior to the fall of Konoha," she admitted.

"How did that happen?"

She tried to swallow around the lump forming in her throat, "My choice to become a kunoichi."

There was silence, weighing down on the room like night upon the hills and valleys. It was a winter night, deep in the darkness of cold and empty space. There were no glimmers of a lighter mood now, just the sense of a forbidden subject pulling at their minds.

"Why did they object to it? What else would you have done in Konoha?"

She smiled faintly, taking a seat at the end of the bed as her eyes, greener than any leaves in spring, were faraway, "I always wanted to be a baker. Set up a little shop somewhere in the civilian district, but close to the shinobi town to draw customers from both sides. They had already given up on me doing what they wanted me to, so they would have let me have my simple life as a baker. I was good at it, and they knew it.

"My aunt owned a bakery that I used to spend a lot of time in," she continued unbidden, "It was frequented by a woman who I later learned was a captain within the ranks of the ANBU hunter-nin. I couldn't believe it at the time. This was a gentle woman, a married woman. She had two sons at home. One was my age and the other just slightly older. It was impossible for me to fathom that she was both a killer and a nurturer at the same time.

"She told me stories of her life when she learned that I had become fascinated with her way of life. It wasn't long before I decided that I wanted to be just like her. My parents believed it was just a phase, so they entertained me for a while. They let me enroll in the academy with the belief that I would never graduate."

Itachi nodded, removing the photo from the pages, "But you did."

"Like everyone else, they believed I would fail. When I didn't, they took it in stride," she whispered. At his silent beckoning, she elaborated, the tree of her life spreading its leaves before him as her story unfolded. She sighed heavily. Sakura despised little more than thinking about her parents. The jealousy and rage always bubbled to the surface, burning her eyes with flames and calling for the tears. She bit back some of the fury to speak, "They disowned me when I became a genin."

Behind her, Itachi sat up a little straighter, truly interested in the conversation, though nothing showed on his blank stone face, "Simply for becoming a kunoichi?"

"The Haruno is a civilian clan. Old money, but civilian nonetheless. As the eldest daughter, I was expected to marry well after I had my fun as a baker. I was to be a good housewife and a mother to strong sons. By becoming a kunoichi, I eliminated any chances of marrying someone appropriate."

There was an almost unperceivable furrowing of his brow as his normally stoic face twisted into the ghost of a frown, "Did they not see the potential of a union with the Hyuuga or the Uchiha?"

"You're awfully talkative tonight," she joked, "And no, they didn't care. That was actually what they were afraid of, probably. Shinobi were never human to the Haruno. A liaison with such a clan was unthinkable. Besides, they had my sister."

Sensing his confusion, she reached over to remove the book from his hands, closing it and tossing it carelessly onto her desk, "It's not something you should concern yourself with. My family is my family, just as yours is yours. I have no intention into prying into your history and I would like it if you would not pry into mine."

"So you gave me your family history for what reason?"

"It's not my family history," she murmured, eyes focused on her hands, "It's part of my personal history, and a part of it that you would already know if this were a real marriage."

There was more silence after her words, the kind that went with lonely nights spent in the ruins of the past. Itachi was a smart man, and he knew that what Sakura had shared was not something most people knew. A part of him wondered if the fox or his own brother had ever known. In Konoha, no one questioned the choice to become a shinobi. He doubted anyone but the Hokage had known of the pinkette's situation.

How had he never noticed that she was like this? Like a river, she held all the little things in until she could hold no more. She was a puzzle, Itachi was discovering, a puzzle he wanted to solve. Only once in his twenty-eight years of life had someone like Sakura become a fixture in his day-to-day existence. That person had been but a fledgling oak, easily destroyed by the tempest of his past. This person, this woman he had married, was more like a black walnut. She was established in his life and wasn't likely to leave. The roots of her involvement in his life were gentle but lethal, leaving behind indelible marks that would never heal even years after she had left.

Of course, Itachi had no intention of letting her go.

Three years ago he couldn't have cared less whether or not this nature-girl stayed in his life. Now, she was too precious, though he hated admitting it. It wasn't that he cared. It was more of a situation in which he had someone he could respect when the entire world had lost its color and integrity. Sakura was just as her name implied. She was fragile. The woman could destroy mountains and reconstruct continents, but she shattered so easily. Emotionally she was made of glass. Her bubbly nature had vanished as the leaves in winter, leaving behind the barren wasteland of ice.

It bothered Itachi, and he didn't like that. He liked things to be in their best condition. Something bright and shiny had turned his attention into that of a child's once. Sakura had shimmered like a diamond on a silver chain, enchanting anyone who looked. Now she was more akin to a tarnished pendant, something devoid of gems. She was the priceless artifact discovered amid ruin, but in such a condition that she could only bring sorrow to those who saw her.

He wanted to meet her just once, he decided. He wanted to meet the real Haruno Sakura. That—dare he say it—_wish_ could only happen when the puzzle hiding her had been solved.

"Why are you still here?"

Sakura's inquiry was as soft as the morning light, the words barely reaching Itachi. He simply responded, "I do not know."

"Would you mind leaving?"

There was something in the underlying tones of her voice that told him that leaving would be in his best interest. Accordingly, he stood and walked to the door, but turned back to face her with one hand on the frame, "I am sorry about your family. Perhaps someday you will be able to tell me about your sister."

With those words, he was gone, leaving Sakura to stare at the door. With shaking hands, she stood and retrieved the _Hagakure_ from her desk, collapsing back onto her bed. She flipped through the pages until a photograph fell out. Trembling like the leaves in a storm, she held it in front of her, viridian meeting emerald.

It was of a young woman. Like the princess she had been treated as, the young woman captured in time stood regally beside a tree. With her silk-draped shoulders held properly and her chin held high, she was eye-catching. Her kimono of navy and gold made her fiery hair even more vibrant, the locks twisted up off of her neck in a complicated swirl. Her emerald eyes were dark, more like the stone than the gem itself. They were delicate, the long lashes sweeping around almond-shaped eyes with all the grace of frost on a windowpane. Her face was small, her features dainty and symmetric. Her skin was like moonlight, perfectly china white. A small smile tugged at her rosy lips, lighting up her face.

She was beautiful in a way Sakura never had been. This woman, her sister, was classical in her appearance. She was the perfect china doll her elder sister had never been.

She was everything Sakura should have been.

The tears came, pushed over the edge by the built up jealousy and hatred. She felt smaller than she had in years, her frame shaken by sobs.

Itachi would never know about her. Not even Tsunade had known about her. Madara would give up his tyrannical rule and become a candy maker before Sakura told anyone about her sister.

There was too much hatred; so much it would make even Sasuke cringe. He had never known the pure loathing that had existed between the Haruno sisters. He would never know it, because if Sakura had her way, no one would ever know anything about her.

And she would have her way, because she was the only one who knew.

* * *

Itachi kept a study at the far end of the Raikage's manor. It opened up into the gardens, and had a wonderful view of the lotus pond. The study itself was warmly, though sparsely, decorated. It was his retreat in the bleak Kaminari.

It was also where he kept the files that he had retrieved from Konoha. They were in a locked container in the corner, and never had he opened them. His own file was in there, as were the files on Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, the massacre, and Hatake Kakashi. Haruno Sakura was another file. It was the thinnest. As the Hokage's apprentice, he had expected more information, but a part of him was certain that she had destroyed much of it before the fall.

She was trying to hide something. Unlike the others, she was the unknown. As a girl from a civilian clan, she had no past within the shinobi world. One day she had just existed within it. Before that, she was nothing.

He was acquainted with one case like hers. Only one. It was rare for civilian children to become a part of the shinobi world, though it was vital to the community. With more and more shinobi families dying out, civilians had been needed to join the ranks.

Itachi had sworn to himself that he would never look at his wife's file, but the situation had changed. Her safety was no longer guaranteed. Unless Itachi could prove to Madara that they were a real couple, she could be killed at any moment and replaced by a more compliant Lady Uchiha.

Itachi _really_ didn't want that to happen.

So with the file in his hand, he sat down at his desk with a bottle of sake. As a rule, he didn't drink, but this was different. No amount of emotional restraint was going to help him. He was human, a fact most liked to ignore. He was just as fragile as every other red-blooded creature on the planet. He was just the best when it came to hiding it.

A drink later and the file was open.

And he was dumbfounded.

"This cannot be right," he murmured, eyes pouring over the details. He knew his vision was a far, far cry from good, but he knew it was still good enough that he could see when something was not quite right.

What was in this file was equivalent to what would be in the bingo book, as well as a few mission reports. Itachi knew that there should have been physicals, psychiatric reports, and the like. This was what Konoha would have handed over to another nation, had there been a need to.

And perhaps there was, he realized, his fuzzy vision catching sight of a note attached to the inside of the file cover. It was Tsunade's handwriting, and held nothing but a name and a location.

Tachibana Tsubaki. Sunagakure.

He wondered if he had any favors with Sasori that he could call in.

* * *

A/N: So the edited version is up. Lots of thanks to Banira for beta'ing. I still hold that this isn't the best I've done, but people seem to like it, so I probably shouldn't be so critical about it.

I'm hoping to wrap up the next chapter of All Fall Down first before I write the next one of this.

_Thanks for your patience!_

_Hikari_


	8. Chapter Seven: Lighthouse

_Chapter Seven_

_Lighthouse_

* * *

Spider webs formed in the walls, the stone fighting the urge to fall to its knees before the goddess of war.

"Not bad," her opponent taunted, chirping and jumping as a summer cricket amid the sunlight.

Sakura snarled under her breath. The wildfire had not receded from its pinnacle of grotesque beauty, not even in the wake of her suppression of the memories. Instead, the flames had fermented; distilling in her blood to form a venom so wicked it tainted everything her aura bled on.

She attacked, leaping across the gap between them as a cat lunges for its prey; graceful and lethal, no different than a raging river. Their battle went on for hours more, until they both collapsed the center of the arena. Sakura, renowned medic of extraordinary strength and good stamina, was exhausted and it felt glorious. She hadn't felt so relaxed in months. Morimoto Kana was easily the best sparring partner she had ever had. Their styles were as similar as a cedar and a maple. Kana was unpredictable to Sakura. She wasn't like Naruto, Sasuke, Hanabi, Kakashi, or any combination of.

Sakura's breath faltered. It had been so long, she realized, so very, very long since she had last thought of Kakashi.

"You okay?" Kana huffed, "Your breathing is off."

"I'm fine. I was just thinking."

Kana knew enough of her history to know that when Sakura was 'thinking', it was best to leave her alone. Sakura was a lonely mourner. She wasn't one to rely on others and talk of things she wished to forget. Konan had tried, once, to make her speak of the silken threads of memory clinging to her shattered heart.

Kakashi was the painful memory from that wretched day. He was the only one she was directly responsible for the death of. He had been the brave one for one last time. She could still feel the burning chakra at her hands as she had gone through the movements to form the…

No, she told herself. She had fought long and hard to forget that day, that moment.

"It must have been Sasuke," she whispered.

"You say something?" Kana grinned.

"Nothing important," she laughed in response, "Just figuring out where my thoughts are coming from."

Kana bounced up, her lithe frame standing easily on the damaged floor of the arena, "You might be the Raikage's wife, but you're still a kunoichi."

Sakura simple gave her friend a blank stare. Kana was the old Sakura in many ways. She was upbeat and energetic, a lively soul that didn't belong in the bleak world of Kaminari. Her blazing hair was like nothing the pinkette had ever seen before. Not even on the head of the temperamental Karin or from the veins of her beloveds had she seen something so red coming from a human being. Her eyes were wide and vivid, twin cream opals surrounding the little midnight dots of her pupils. She was shorter than Sakura, perhaps about Hanabi's height, her frame thin and willowy. Kana was deceptively powerful, much like Sakura was. She looked fragile and weak, like a poor kitten lost amid the ravenous wildlife of the shinobi world.

"What I mean to say is," she elaborated, "Is that you can't keep holding onto the past. We're not exactly human anymore. We lose that quality when we put on the symbol of our Village. It's not something we can forget, and holding onto the things that have passed us by, however life-changing they may be, is not something that we can do. We can't linger on things."

"I do not need a lecture on the ways of a shinobi from someone younger than my trainee."

Kana laughed, her exuberance shining brightly, "So I'm sixteen, you've never complained about being matched by someone younger. Perhaps you're losing your touch on the battlefield while wasting away as the Kage's wife."

"Somehow I doubt that," she joked, "Dealing with the Akatsuki is a full time mission. They keep a girl on her toes."

"I'm sure," Kana muttered conspiratorially.

Sakura remained on the ground as Kana walked over to where they had left their things, including an old stereo. Without warning, she flipped it onto a station as the music poured out in cataracts from the speakers, winding their way through the air to reach Sakura.

She stiffened. _How long has it been?_ She couldn't think of anything beyond that line, couldn't breathe, the music wrapping around her lungs with a crushing force.

"Cynical," Kana mused, skipping back to the tortured pinkette, "I like it. Do you know who it is?"

"Yeah," she rasped, "He's from Konoha."

The redhead stopped mid-step, "Wait, so you like, _know_ him? Can you introduce me?"

Sakura moved to stand, not meeting Kana's eyes, "No."

She turned away, walking towards the exit as Kana called after her, "Why not?"

"Because he's dead."

* * *

Itachi was aware of many things. He knew, better than most, that one did not tread lightly when the forces of nature were involved. It was certainly a very, very unwise thing to trifle with the forces of nature when they were compacted into a petite kunoichi with fingers more lethal than any of Deidara's explosives.

Sasori had given him a report on Tachibana Tsubaki quickly, but it had yielded nothing. The woman did not appear in any census since the takeover. He had given his word that the old files were being searched, but he promised nothing. Too many had died in the takeover, he'd said. Not all were reported.

The Uchiha pinched the bridge of his nose in a rare showing of weakness. He'd been fighting the burning, stabbing pain of a tension headache for the past four nights, since Sakura had presented him with the conundrum of her past. Something still didn't fit.

Sakura was a strong woman. She could weather through any storm with the tenacity of the greatest of trees. She could tear through her obstacles with more ferocity than any hurricane. She simply wasn't one to be torn down, let alone keep little bits of bone hidden in the cavities of her soul.

Something was terribly amiss. The file, the avoidance, none of it was right. Sakura was hiding something, something bigger than Tachibana Tsubaki, and he needed to know. A quick review of the Konoha census revealed the Haruno clan to be a large one, and one still in existence. They were merchants, it had appeared, almost singlehandedly running the civilian market in Konohagakure since the beginning.

His wife had an impressive pedigree that could be a very bad thing if he was right.

Uchiha Itachi was a complicated man. Behind his midnight eyes of empty glass, his mind was unlike any other. He thrived on mystery, the intrigue keeping him entertained. The entertainment ended, of course, when the mystery became something too dangerous to control. A cyclone was a beautiful thing, but only if viewed at a distance. Up close, it was too personal.

Sakura's bloody skeletons were too personal, he believed. If the situation was as dangerous as his instincts were telling him it was, then he needed to know everything to form a preemptive plan in case Madara became involved.

He did not want the little pinkette tempest to end up like Deidara's wife.

She had been a striking woman, just a couple of years older than Itachi himself. She had tempered the fury of the somewhat unstable _artist_, and had brought peace to the feuds between the other wives of the Akatsuki.

She had also been a Hyuuga.

It had proved to be her downfall when the remnants of the winter twilight demanded mercy due to their cousin's position. Madara had not taken to the idea and Deidara had become a widower moments after becoming a father.

Sakura would not be so lucky. Deidara's appearance belied his age. The man was almost the same age as Kisame. Madara had deemed him too old to find another bride. Itachi would not be so lucky. With or without children, Sakura would be disposed of if the Haruno raised the demons of the past.

"But she claimed she had been disowned," he mused, cloudy vision focused on the gargantuan tome of Konoha history before him. The entry on the Haruno was similar in length to the one concerning the summer evening's hated brumel twilight. He knew what it meant. Unlike the Uchiha, proud and vain and so very happy to share their illustrious history with the world, the Hyuuga kept their works to the shadows. The Haruno, it appeared, did the same.

He couldn't request their files without alerting Madara to the situation. His only choice was in the monsoon that he had married. Perhaps her heart still lived, a lighthouse to direct the souls trying to understand her.

Uchiha Itachi was not a sentimental man. Sakura was just…different. In a good way. She was somewhat like the crocuses of spring, the first flowers to show the world that winter was ending. She was refreshing and enchanting.

He sighed, knowing too well that he was in over his head when it came to the Konoha refugee. He needed to relax if he was planning on learning anything, but the tension was built up in his body, a constrictor biting and choking him at the same time. Shisui had been the only one capable of unwinding the prodigy, causing hidden laughter with his midday disposition and redwood patience.

Itachi, certain he was alone, gave into one of the habits for relaxation he had learned from the sun nearly twenty years before.

"I can't believe it," a voice interrupted. He glanced up from the book to see the focus of his thoughts leaning against the frame of the study door, "Who knew Uchiha Itachi could sing?"

He cringed inwardly, fixing a glare on his face, "You will never mention that to anyone."

She laughed, the sound weighed down by some unknown chain, but she was still back to normal, "Don't worry. The last thing little would-be rebels need is to learn that the mighty Raikage is actually a sensitive and caring enough to sing."

"Is there something you need?"

She meandered into the study, her feline movements looser and more liquid. So she had been sparring with Morimoto, he realized. She was always more genial after a fight, a little fact he had learned within the first three months of their marriage. Lazily, a cat coming home for a nap, she fell onto a cushion across the desk, "We need to talk."

"I was wondering when you would see the sense in conversation."

She scowled, "It's not like that. If we're going to have to prove to the world that we're a real couple, then there are some things you need to know. If this was a real marriage, you probably would have already known this."

Itachi studied her carefully, but found nothing save sincerity in her features, "Your sister?"

"No," her voice was steel as her passive features turned aggressive, her posture shifting to something defensive, "We are not discussing that."

"Then what is it you wish to tell me?

She worried her lip between her teeth, viridian gaze going to the book before him, "You have to understand; only Kakashi knew about this. Even then, I didn't tell him. Pakkun saw the scars and Kakashi found other ways of learning what had happened."

"You are making no sense, Sakura," he murmured, already realizing that he had been right. Something was rotten within the Haruno.

"Haruno Takashi."

He was slightly taken aback by her blunt response, but he waited patiently for her to continue.

"He was my cousin," she murmured, "I've always been convinced that he was the only member of my family to actually care about me. The rest of the clan had my sister, the perfect heiress. They needed to get rid of me so she could step forward. Takashi was different, the black sheep, if you will. He was the one to take care of me when things got bad."

Something cold gripped his spine as the facts clicked into place. How? He wanted to know how she had managed to hide it. Surely the Hokage had to have known. Hatake couldn't have been the only one.

"One of Takashi's friends was a nurse in the civilian sector of the hospital," she answered his thoughts, a knowing glint in her green diamond eyes, "His father was one of the top doctors. Between the two of them, he learned what he needed to stitch me up. When he couldn't handle it, I went to stay with Ren-san. Because it wasn't chakra-based healing, it left scars that—I guess I already told you what happened."

The Hokage had to have known, he kept thinking. Abuse was almost unheard of in Konohagakure, the punishment too severe for it to flourish as it had in other Villages. Surely someone had noticed. An abused child would have shown some signs, and if she had not left the house until her graduation…

"Stop thinking," she ordered softly, "I don't know why you're so concerned with this. It's just another story in a world full of tales. So I didn't have the best life. So what? I had Takashi to take care of me, to find me a new home, and to watch out for me."

"What happened?" he demanded softly.

Sakura smiled, "Very good. You're getting better at telling when I'm withholding information."

He remained silent. Sakura knew, he realized. She knew she was a mystery dancing in front of him, twisting the light to blot out everything except the questions swirling around her. In the dark recesses of his weathered mind, he fumed at his weakness for puzzles.

"Takashi was murdered by the Haruno clan as a warning for me to stay away."

Itachi could not conceal his shock, and inwardly he cursed the lack of field activity to keep his iron control in place. It did not change the fact that the clan that had brought the woman before him into the world was more ruthless than any shinobi family. Not even the Uchiha, in their final venomous years, had sunk to the level of killing their own for reasons of control.

Yet he remained silent as the pinkette before him slowly told him about her cousin and all he had done for her.

* * *

"Sasuke?" Hanabi rounded a corner in the small underground home she shared with her husband. He had vanished into the shadows as the night had fallen, and she was quickly growing concerned. Had something happened in the hamlet? Was someone wounded or had another sickness risen as fog from the tundra just beyond the mountains vainly protecting them?

"Over here," his voice called out to her as she found herself as the door of their home that led to the village, opposite the back entrance Sakura had used.

"Is everything alright?" she shivered, biting her tongue against the chilly winter air. She moved to stand close to the brooding male, her shoulder brushing his arm as lavender pearls took in the inscrutable expression across his patrician features. His midnight cobalt eyes were clouded with a mix of memories as plans. Hanabi reached up to brush a stray strand of ebony away from his face, tucking it behind his ear and earning his attention.

"What do you see?"

She followed his gesture and took in the white landscape of the little nook the remaining burning leaves had taken as a home. Snow still fell in drops of feathers around the pocket valley as the few children that had survived the last year ran around, specks of innocents in a tainted world. A little blonde boy, his sunshine hair defying the laws of color natural to human beings and his eyes a blank slate blue, had stopped in the middle of the falling snow.

"Takumi-kun?"

"Do you remember when Naruto and Hinata were trying to name him?"

"Yes," she did, in fact, remember it. Sakura had never come to an impasse with any of the survivors until her marriage to Itachi, but Takumi and his sister had predated that. The boy, however, was meant to bear another name, "Sakura objected to the name Takashi, correct?"

"Did anyone ask why?"

Hanabi did not answer, instead turning her thoughts inward.

No, she answered herself. No one had asked Sakura why she had been so opposed to the name. She and Hinata had already been walking on explosive wire, their friendship strained as Sakura spent more and more time away in the months leading up the announcement of her engagement. No one had taken the time to consider that the name held some memory for the pinkette that she wasn't yet ready to face.

She gave him her answer and could only listen as he replied in a clockwork voice so distant and so lost, "No one ever asked her why."

Hanabi knew he was thinking of so much more than a name.

* * *

A/N: Transition chapter and unbeta'd. I'm sorry.

_Anyone else think Sakura needs a psychiatrist?_

_Hikari Adams_


	9. Chapter Eight: Tin Man

**_Serendipity_**

_Chapter Eight_

_Tin Man_

_

* * *

  
_

_She is four the first time someone tells her she's useless. She has done nothing wrong that she can thing of, but still there's the anger coming towards her, telling her not to corrupt the good one. She's confused, but she tries not to show it, and smiles prettily when the emerald-eyed bitch that started it hugs her._

_

* * *

  
_

She felt as if she were floating amidst the clouds. All around her, the clouds of her mind shifted and formed memories that danced around her, supported her and swallowed her.

* * *

_She is six and she understands. Understands that things will always be like this, that she will always be superfluous. She hears the calls and looks to find emerald staring back at her, a smile in the reflection, "Nee-chan, what's wrong?"_

_ She just snarls and walks away, too angry to respond. If she can understand it, then why can't the perfect one figure it out?_

_

* * *

_

The pain raced down her spine, her back arching in response. Why now? Why would she be seeing such things?

Another cloud came up behind her, wrapping around her and shocking her with the lightning contained with in.

* * *

_She is eight and in pain. She hides it well, sitting on the edge of the bridge in her pretty blue kimono. The festival around her is in full swing, yet no one notices that she's not where she should be. _

_ "Sakura-chan?" the voice is so calm and so gentle she wants to cry, but instead she looks blankly at the woman coming closer. It's __**her**__, the woman who is both a killer and a mother, the woman who makes her want to be a kunoichi. _

_ Her dark eyes are concerned, her mouth pulled down in a frown that doesn't match her beautiful kimono of red. Red like the hair, red like the blood, and it makes her look away until the woman speaks again, "Sakura-chan, your back is bleeding."_

_

* * *

_

Oh, her. Sakura hadn't thought of that woman in so long. She had deliberately pushed aside all thoughts of anyone like Takashi, anyone that cared whether or not she was fed or not. That woman, the kunoichi-mother, she had been so beautiful and so caring. The secret Sakura had never told had been that the real reason she wanted to be a kunoichi was because she wanted to help others. That woman had made her feel safe, feel like there was a possibility that a mother could really care for a child.

She wanted to know what that woman would have thought if she knew what Sakura had grown up to be.

* * *

_She is ten and broken. The medicine applied to her back stings, but his tears sting more as he cries, promising her that it will all be better. She wants to tell him that it's impossible. She's finally been cast aside, the only thing they haven't done is to kill her. _

_ It's only a matter of time before they do._

_

* * *

_

A cry escaped her as the cloud released her, leaving her floating in the storm once more.

Was she asleep? Was that why she was able to see so much? Or had the clan finally come for her? She couldn't remember how old she was, or how long it had been since she was disowned or even if she had been disowned. All the years were scrambled together and she couldn't make sense of it.

* * *

_She is twelve and more angry and hurt. The wounds are worse, but she's not afraid. She's never been afraid. The clan, her parents, they can hurt her as much as they want, but they can never put fear in her. Besides, she's a kunoichi now. What kind of fighter would she be if she trembled before her own family?_

_ No, that's not right. They aren't her family anymore. They had told her that just minutes ago. _

_ Yet, why are there two green eyes staring at her with tears spilling over the edge and the words tumbled out, "Ane-ue, why are you leaving?"_

_

* * *

_

The fury she had long forgotten returned stronger than she remembered. Had her sister's innocence always inspired such utter hatred? Sakura knew she had never had much of a tolerance for it, remembering that Takashi himself had struggled greatly with it.

How old had she been? Nine or so? She could only barely recall her cousin's ill-concealed anger towards her younger sister. Calm, gentle Takashi had actually wanted to strike the girl, but had always refused to do anything to the younger Haruno sister because, as Ren-san had reminded him, it would make him no better than the rest of the clan.

Was she feeling his ire? Was that why the fury was worse than she had ever known it to be?

The emotions faded quickly, leaving her in the grasp of another memory, one so very different than all the others.

* * *

_She is fourteen and lonely. Takashi is dead, as is the kunoichi-mother, Sasuke is missing, and she foolishly sent Naruto after their errant teammate. _

_ Why hadn't Naruto seen that she really needed him there? Why hadn't he fought her? Why hadn't he chosen to stay and help her become stronger so they could bring Sasuke back __**together**__? _

_ For that matter, where is Kakashi? She hasn't seen him for almost a month now, and she worried. She sighs and turns to enter the park where she used to sit and talk with the kunoichi-mother. As she approaches the little bridge that had been theirs, she sees that someone else is there. A girl in a perfect blue kimono sits in her spot, a parasol over her head. _

_ The parasol comes down, and Sakura needs to punch something._

_

* * *

_

Pain shot throughout her body. She had managed to shove that particular memory into the darkest depths of her mind, and something reared its ugly head in retaliation of being reminded. That little brat had never known when to stop, even when Sakura had explicitly told her that she was happier than ever since the disownment.

But that little brat never listened. She had always tried to patch things up, going against the family so many times, yet nothing ever happened to her. The one time she got caught—

* * *

_She is sixteen and __**pissed off**__. It's the umpteenth time in four years that her apartment has been vandalized. She wishes she could get some help in cleaning it up, but no one seems to know about what goes one with Sakura and her ex-family and she likes it that way. She never particularly felt like correcting Naruto and Sasuke's assumptions that she was the only member of the team to come from a whole family. _

_ She wants to know how they managed to do it this time. After two years, she finally went to Tsunade and asked for a new apartment, one in a strictly shinobi sector. She found herself living across the hall from Hatake Kakashi, but that actually eased her fears a little. _

_ But Kakashi is always out on missions, and so she still has to put up with it. Normally she can hide what has happened. This time is worse, she thinks as she uses her superhuman strength to fix the door hinge that had been damaged. Once the door is working, she disappears into the apartment to fix everything else. _

_She wants to know how they do it, since she lives in a shinobi complex. Is it because it is a shinobi complex and thus civilians are not an issue? Silly shinobi, they've obviously never met the Haruno._

_

* * *

_

Another cry escaped her. So much pain was locked inside her recollections. So much anger. She wondered if maybe someone did see it before things got really bad. Sai, perhaps? The bastard had always acted like he knew more than he let on, always treating her like she was about to snap.

No, she was certain Sai hadn't known. As far as she had known, only Kakashi discovered her secret. Even then, it hadn't really been him.

* * *

_She is eighteen and ashamed. No longer a child and no longer able to hide, she tries anyway. It's a simple recon mission, and she has just stepped away from camp to take a bath in the nearby river. She knew Pakkun had followed her, as he always did, but he's never said anything to anyone before about her body. _

_ Of course, she realizes, before she has always been careful to keep her body covered. This time he saw everything. _

_ And proceeded to tell Kakashi. _

_ His hand is gentle but strong as he pulls her towards him, his other hand lifting the back of her shirt just enough that he can see the scars marring her back. _

_ "Sakura, what happened?" _

_She thinks she can hear the kunoichi-mother in his voice, and she breaks down and cries._

_

* * *

_

She had never hated herself more, she remembered. It was the first time she had ever truly felt ashamed of herself, of her weakness. Her eyes tighten, though they have not opened once since the dream began.

It was a dream wasn't it? She still couldn't tell, but why else would she be in such a state?

* * *

_She is nineteen and ready to kill. Sunagakure is still around her, nothing moving as she slips between the shadows of the stately house. She first checks on the second brat, making sure she's safe before moving onto her target. The bastard may have done something she sometimes wished she could do—something Takashi had wished to do—but it doesn't change the fact that he still needs to pay for it. The brat was innocent, after all. _

_For the first time, she feels the thrill of taking another's life. The medic in her dies for long enough to end the monster before returning with a vengeance. She takes the second brat, wrapped tightly in a blanket and sleeping. Somewhere far away from Suna, far from any shinobi, she hands the second brat over with only a word in parting. _

"_Sumire."_

_

* * *

_

Tears fell, her eyes still closed as she began to fall. Falling through memory after memory, the clouds bursting and reforming as she passed through them. Each one hurt like hell, but it was a hell she welcomed as the recollections shifted from her tattered childhood to the blasts of light she found just before the war.

* * *

_She is twenty and in love. His rough hands trace the scars on her back and for the first time, she is not ashamed of who she is. Haruno and Sakura both, she is finally proud to be her. It's the middle of the worst war the world has seen, but at that moment, she only cared for him, this man who was her never-teacher. _

_This man fourteen years her senior who taught her how to love._

_

* * *

_

Kakashi—all the memories she had tried her hardest to stuff away, and the ones she had succeeded with were rising up around her, surrounding her and fighting to be the one to swallow her whole.

What had happened to bring him to her mind again? She had finally forgotten about him, but something had dragged him forward. Was it the questions about her happiness? Had it been Hanabi's casual mention of the dogs, the scroll Sakura had left in Sasuke's belongings because she couldn't bear to have it around her?

* * *

_She is twenty-one and crying harder than she ever has before. She pulls at his vest, pleading with him as desperately as she can. _

"_Don't do this! It doesn't have to end this way! We haven't lost yet—"_

_He cuts her off with a kiss, one that's full of sorrow and love and heartache and she knows it's a goodbye, her fears confirmed when he whispers against her lips, "It has to be done. This thing can't be allowed to go any further and you're the only one who can do this."_

"_Then let me pay the price!"_

_He kisses her again; gentle this time, "No. When this is over, they'll need you. I'll be the sacrifice, Sakura, just promise me you'll live."_

_A third kiss, this time started by her and it's so desperate and so sad. She wants to fight him more, tell him that it doesn't have to end like this but she knows there's no other way. The Village has fallen around them, the Hokage dead and the Kyuubi lost. If they want to stop the carnage, then this has to be done. When he walks away from her, his vest on her shoulders, she watches the way the wind plays with his silver hair. He turns back and smiles at her. _

_She starts the jutsu, too many tears in her eyes for her to see him clearly._

_

* * *

_

Something snapped inside her and suddenly her back went from arching to curling in on her body. She held her knees up to her chest and shuddered with the sobs and screams that tore through her body. The destruction of everything she held dear flashed before her eyes. The battle mashed together in a mess of visions and sensations. At once she was feeling Hokage Mountain give way beneath her fists and standing in the crowd as the soon-to-be Hokage began to speak just moments before the katana shot through his neck. She could feel the weight of Sasuke's arm over her shoulder, one of her arms holding him up around the waist as her other arm hold Naruto draped over her other shoulder. So much sorrow flashed before her, the anger faded before the might of the defeat.

Why? Why? Why was she seeing it all again? Why now? She had just started to accept what had happened. Why was it needed for her to rehash everything again inside her head? She couldn't change anything. She couldn't rebuild Konoha or bring anyone back to life.

* * *

_She is still twenty-one and worn out. The constant running is taking its toll on everyone and she sees the survivors fall apart under the weight of it all and it's killing her. She has never felt so helpless, even when she had to use __**that**__ jutsu to end the battle, killing—_

_No. She's told herself time and time again to stay away from that last memory of him, the feel of his lips against hers as he said goodbye, the feel of the chakra—_

_Stop it, Sakura! She's screaming at herself, but she's far enough away from the camp that no one can hear her. She's safe as she journeys on alone._

_When she reaches the city, she's mildly surprised to find that she can evade the guards and all, but she's not surprised at the lax security. No one is stupid enough to try and go after him. Neither is she as she faces him calmly and tells him that she will marry him if he saves the fallen leaves he once belonged to._

_

* * *

_

As the memories raced on, Sakura felt herself falling faster and faster. Slowly, her eyes opened, just as she hit the ground.

* * *

The pond was cold against her bare feet, but for once she didn't care. Virescent eyes watched the carp swim about her feet, their silver scales shining in the moonlight. Her yukata was too thin for her to be wearing outside at any time of year in Kaminari, but she really didn't care.

She could still feel the evaporated corpses of her tears on her cheeks. She hated it, hated that she had cried so much in her sleep, but she knew there was nothing she could do about it. She had always been the helpless one. She hadn't been able to save Tsunade and Naruto when they both needed her. She had let Kakashi die in vain, and she hadn't been able to save Youko.

How many had died because of her helplessness?

She sighed heavily just before a blanket fell on her shoulders. She stiffened as Itachi took a seat beside her, his legs folded rather than dangling over the edge of the pond.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked softly, leaning away from him.

"I've always been a light sleeper. Your chakra signature has been erratic for the past hour or so."

She hummed in response. She knew the dream had been distressing. The medic in her told her that just distress was more than enough to alter the strength of her chakra signature.

Poor Karin would have burst through her bedroom door and forced her awake if the redhead had been anywhere near Sakura. She'd done it once, when the memories of Kakashi had overwhelmed her towards the beginning of their refugee life.

Her defenses were lowered as a result of the dream, or so she would tell herself later when she next awoke and remembered her late-night conversation with Itachi.

"Itachi, have you ever been in love?"

She could feel the air around him shift in response to her question, but she kept her eyes on the carp, watching they way they swirled around the reflection of the moon in favor of looking at him.

"Once," he responded, "But she's dead now."

"How did she die?"

She could feel his gaze on her when he replied, "I killed her. Why do you ask?"

Her lips tugged up in a wry smile. She should have known his answer, something told her. She ignored it and gave him an answer, "Just wondering. I was in love once, but he's dead now."

"How did he die," he echoed, his interest evident in his voice.

She looked him straight in the eye, allowing him to see all the emotions in her eyes as she spoke on the edge of overwhelming emotions.

"I killed him."

* * *

Itachi wasn't completely certain why he had gone out to see her. After checking on her and making sure she wasn't doing anything stupid, he could have gone back to bed.

But he didn't.

He knew it was cold out, so he took a blanket to her. That was that, right?

No, he stayed and talked to her.

And surprisingly she talked back.

The bit about love caught him off-guard, though he didn't show it. His dark eyes just followed the movement of her feet in the water, and the way the carp responded to her movements. He didn't respond to her admission, and instead mulled over it.

She had been an abused child and she had killed her lover. He could feel that there was so much more to her than just that, and he wanted to know. He needed to know. With every revelation of her, he was becoming more and more enchanted by the puzzle he had married. It was a dangerous game to play, yes, but he really didn't care. After so many years of monotony, she was a refreshing disturbance.

With everything he knew about the woman beside him, she should have cracked beneath the weight of such things.

"I feel so helpless."

Her voice was just barely audible, and even then he had to strain to hear it. If he hadn't been hyperaware of her at that moment, he likely would have missed it. He caught it, though, and he was thoroughly perplexed at how to respond.

She wasn't helpless. She had managed to do more than he had. After the massacre he had fallen so low he didn't think he'd ever come back from that darkness. It had taken Jiraiya to drag him out of the depths and getting him working for something again, giving him the opportunity to spy on the Akatsuki for Konoha. He was eternally grateful to the sannin for that, though no one would ever know about it. That was a part of the frail human side of him that no one under any circumstances saw.

Sakura was something different. Even when the world had been pulled out from beneath her, she managed to stay standing. She had an internal strength that was rare among humans.

How to tell her? He knew instinctively that she needed someone to comfort her, someone to remind her that she wasn't completely alone, but Itachi wasn't the person to do that. Sasuke may have been able to handle it, but the brothers had always been polar opposites when it came to handling emotions.

And girls were something else. Neither brother had ever dealt well with females, but Sasuke had more experience with this one. For the first time in a long while, Itachi really wished his brother had survived the final battle. It would mean that Itachi would have been married off to the woman Madara had chosen, but at least Sakura would have had someone to lean on.

Again, it was a sentiment no one would ever know about, but Itachi still had to do something.

"The battle at Konoha," he began awkwardly, "You managed to blindside three members of Akatsuki. Konan, Kisame, and Pein all saw what you did to Hokage Mountain. That's why they respect you. Especially Kisame. He was faced with a similar situation once. He was Akatsuki by then, but he still couldn't bring himself to go through with it. The fact that you managed to earned yourself a lot of respect from him."

She gave him a sideways glance, "That sounds so wrong coming from you."

He frowned, "I don't know what else to say."

"It's okay. Half the time I don't know what to say either. We're only human, so we just have to try our best. Even if we say the wrong thing, we still have to try."

He nodded, pulling up his own courage from his long-forgotten days of youth, "Then will you tell me about your sister someday?"

"And that was the wrong thing to say," she leaned back on her hands, her feet still in the pond, "but good try."

There was a bit of the normal, caustic Sakura in the remark and he smirked, "You know I'll find out some way."

"Just try. I personally saw to it that the only way to find out about that is to go through me. There's nothing in this world that you can do to make me say a word about it," the confidence in her voice broadened his smirk to a borderline smile. There was a minor victory there, he felt, since he had managed to bring up some of her once-volatile emotions. If she could shift from depression to taunting in the span of a couple of seconds, then maybe there was hope for her yet.

They lapsed into silence. For once, it was a comfortable silence as they sat at the edge of the pond, just watching the carp swim around the water-moon.

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke rarely felt guilty about anything. It was his way of coping with all that had happened. If he felt guilty about everything bad he had been involved in, he would never know anything about how to live. The guilt concerning the massacre alone would have crushed him long ago.

Of course, it almost did, but that was a lifetime ago.

Sakura had always been the one thing he had never been able to escape, though. There was a guilt surrounding her that had plagued him more than anything else. It wasn't that he had rejected her when she was his first love; it was more that he hadn't been there for her.

_"Sasuke, it wouldn't have worked. You know that. I loved you once, but it was really misguided. I needed to grow up. Now I have, and I'm sorry that your growth has led you to me. Please try to understand."_

Her words had echoed in his mind for days after that incident. She had spent years declaring her love for him, and he had always rejected her. The one time he declared his love for her, she rejected him. The fact that she had rejected him in favor of Kakashi had only made it a little worse.

It wasn't until much later that he discovered the reason.

After the war had ended and they had been evicted from Konoha, only Team Seven remained whole, albeit without Kakashi. Losing him had hurt Sakura terribly, and she frequently had nightmares because of it. He had Naruto had taken to sleeping with her between them, if only so one of them could wake her up when it happened and calm her down. The way her chakra spiked when she dreamt put the whole group in danger.

He sighed, his hand going through his unbound hair as he sat at the table Sakura herself had been sitting at just a few weeks prior. Hanabi was moving about quietly in the kitchen, fixing tea for them since neither could sleep. He wasn't sure what was haunting her, but Sakura was all he could think about.

How had neither he nor Naruto known about her family situation? Sasuke had had to find out through the troubled mumblings of her nightmare-filled sleep in the middle of nowhere.

"Why didn't you tell us?" he whispered, knowing that there was no one who mattered around to hear him.

He hadn't been able to bring the subject up with her at all, and not for the first time he wished he had.

A cup of tea was placed in front of him, a second one off to the side as his wife's small hands went to his shoulders, her body leaning against him, "What's wrong?"

He reached up with his right hand to cover hers, "Just thinking. What about you?"

"The same," she murmured, "Sakura?"

"Yes."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Do you mind?"

Hanabi laughed softly, "No, I don't. I'm not my sister."

"No, I suppose you aren't," he responded, "Still, if it's ever uncomfortable for you, just tell me."

Her arms moved to wrap around his neck in something related to a hug, "Sasuke, we're both haunted by our first loves, and those loves weren't the people we married. Most of humanity has to deal with that. Our situations are just a little different because of the war. Besides, I completely understand the Sakura situation. It's okay to tell me about it."

His hand that had stayed on hers gave it a light squeeze, his head turning to look at her. Cobalt and lavender met, a silent understanding passing between the two.

"Did you know that Sakura was a twin?" he began softly, not looking away from her, "They weren't identical, but Sakura was the elder, the heiress to the Haruno line. I didn't find out until after the war that Sakura had been disowned when she was twelve, or that she had been abused before then.

"Naruto and I never questioned her. All we knew was that she came from a civilian family. We were shinobi. We didn't care about that side of life. It didn't concern us and so we just brushed off the issues of her family, assuming that everything family-wise was perfect for her. My brother had slaughtered my family and Naruto had never known his. What could possibly have been worse than that?"

She leaned her forehead against his, chocolate blending with licorice as strands of her hair fell around them. Her eyes softened in understanding, "We're only human, Sasuke. You can't expect anything to be perfect, but it's understandable that the two of you would have made that assumption. If she didn't say anything, then she didn't want you to know."

"Yes, but why? She knew she could trust us."

"And she knew you worried over her," Hanabi cut in, "She probably didn't want to worry either of you. Honestly, if the two of you had known what was going on with her family, how would you have reacted?"

He frowned, knowing full well that the Haruno would have had hell to pay if he and Naruto had known before the war what their teammate had gone through.

"Now what's this about a sister?" she asked, pulling away from him and picking up her tea.

He reached out, pushing away from the table and pulling her into his lap, "The younger sister. Probably the only case I've heard of where it's the elder who is furiously jealous of the younger, but there was something different about this."

Hanabi frowned at him as she sucked the place on her hand where the tea had splashed over the edge of her cup, but she still responded gently, "In what way?"  
"Sakura was talking in her sleep when I found out about all this," he started, "So maybe this was a result of hindsight, but as much hatred as there seemed to be, it was mixed with something else. Regret, maybe? I was so tempted to ask her about it, and about that Takashi she mentioned."

Hanabi's interested was clearly piqued, "Why didn't you?"

"Felt too personal, I suppose. We were all suffering, but I think maybe she was suffering more than any of us could deal with, so if we saw the signs we just ignored them."

"What was the sister's name?" she finally asked, "Maybe Sakura said something to me."

Sasuke hummed a little in response, "Sumire, I think."

Hanabi frowned at that, "Haruno Sumire. It doesn't ring any bells, but I'll try to remember."

He picked up his tea from the table, giving her a small smile before taking a drink, "I didn't expect you to remember anything. It seems like something she'd guard with everything she has."

They spoke of other things from there, but a part of Sasuke's mind still revolved around the puzzle that was Sakura. He only hoped that someday she would tell someone of everything.

Perhaps his brother was the person she needed. Itachi was just damaged enough that maybe they could come together over the wounds of the past and begin the healing process together. Sakura needed to talk about her family and about Kakashi. Itachi needed to talk to someone about the fact that the massacre had been ordered by Konoha.

Sasuke only wished he could have been the one there for both of them.

* * *

A/N:

Finally done with this monster of a chapter! So excited to get two chapters down in one weekend.

I'm not too happy with the dream bit, but it's supposed to be kind of choppy and muddled because Sakura's really messed up there. Originally, this chapter was supposed to be completely Sasuke and Kakashi wasn't supposed to have a big part in Sakura's life. However, Sasuke bowed out of this chapter and Kakashi likes to take over things. Go figure.

Disclaimer: me no own.

_Who thinks Itachi needs a therapist?_

_Hikari Adams_


	10. Chapter Nine: Daydreamer

**_Serendipity_**

_Chapter Nine_

_Daydreamer_

_

* * *

  
_

She hadn't said a word to him in almost a month. Normally he wouldn't have thought anything of it. She had gone most of a year without speaking to him. It wasn't anything to be truly concerned about. Sakura had made her opinion of him known almost as fast as she had proposed.

He sighed, trying to focus on the report before him. It wasn't that the educational reforms in Kaminari were dull, it was just that he thought something had finally fallen away. Had he been mistaken when he assumed that Sakura was beginning to accept what had happened and was preparing to move on?

He swore under his breath, a habit of Shisui's he'd picked up and never fully been able to break. It was just a quirk he kept to himself, only showing it in the safety of his study where no one could find out.

He really wished he had kept the sake, but he had had that moved to where Sakura could find it as the anniversary approached. He was never entirely sure what it was the anniversary of, but it was something that had left indelible marks on the woman he married. There were five such anniveraries, and he had only managed to find out what two of them were.

The fourth of March, when Sasuke finally returned to Konoha. That was always spent in the north with the refugees who remembered. It was the one time of year he felt a little guilty about allowing his brother to be killed, while the rest of the time he wrote it off as Sasuke's own foolishness.

That wasn't really true, but whatever helped him sleep at night was what he went with. Of the five anniversaries, Sasuke's return was the only one that left her smiling when she returned to Kumo. She had told him the one time he asked that it was a day of remembering the good, and she did her best not to focus on the bad. So she would smile, because that was what Sasuke would have wanted her to do.

The twelfth of June, when Konoha fell to the Akatsuki. It was arguably the worse day of the year for Sakura, and it was one of the only times he allowed her to leave Kumo without going to the north. He was never entirely sure of where she went, though the Morimoto girl had said something that suggested a shrine somewhere on the shores of Kaminari.

He was only mildly surprised in the beginning when she chose not to go to the north, as she normally did for days relating to Konoha. He had asked once. The only response she had given him was a look so heartbreaking even Hidan would have been affected. It had been his first clue that not all was right with his knowledge of that final battle.

This was yet another, and probably the strangest ritual she had for any of the anniversaries. It started on the eighteenth of April, when Morimoto Kana would deliver a plainly wrapped box to Sakura, who would then take the box and disappear shortly thereafter only to return in the dark of the morning. The next day, he would find her sitting on the roof of their home, dressed all in white and facing Suna. Five days later, she would pull out her old katana and polish the blade, as well as the various weapons and armor that had come with her from Konoha. At exactly 11:42 that night, she would take one drink of sake and then she would retire to her room for the night.

It was the one anniversary he had never asked about. He had always been too perplexed at the oddities of the ritual that he had never thought to ask. He knew it was of the more personal variety of anniversary, but he never felt the connection of trust required to inquire after something so sensitive in nature.

And sensitive it clearly was. Normally on or around anniversaries he was able to approach her if she stayed in Kumo. This was the one time he couldn't. There was something inherently different about that week. Even the Morimoto girl seemed to pick up on the fact that Sakura did not want to talk to anyone about anything on that day.

Something clicked in his mind. Morimoto Kana was the one who retrieved the box every year. Was it possible that she knew something about the events surrounding his wife's behavior?

He glanced out the window to see what the sky read. After living in Kaminari for so long, he found that it was possible to read the sky, though Kumogakure existed completely within the clouds surrounding the mountains. If he recalled, Morimoto usually arrived within the next ten minutes or so. With a plan in mind, he stood and made his way towards the entrance he knew she used.

He was rewarded when not five minutes later a chakra signature flared on the other side of the door. Before she could knock, he had opened the door, holding out his hand for the box.

Morimoto Kana was such a strange girl, he thought. She was barely sixteen, yet Sakura insisted time and time again that the chunin was one of the best sparring partners she had ever had. Admittedly Itachi knew it was possible, but Morimoto was only a chunin. When it had been Itachi, he had already been an ANBU captain and an S-class missing nin by that age.

_"Not everyone is you, Itachi."_

He tensed as his mother's voice rang out in his head, though his face betrayed nothing. Instead, he kept a blank look in his eye as he took in the image of the chunin standing at his door.

"Raikage-sama," she managed to greet, her smile faltering. Her eyes, vanilla where the iris was and normal otherwise, gave away no emotion that he could read, though her face in general was quite expressive, "I'm here to see Sakura-sama."

"She is currently busy," he lied smoothly, "She sent me to retrieve the package."

"Ah," she fumbled, "Well, that is new."

"You seem surprised."

"A little."

He tried to look perplexed in a way that she would understand and yet still seem natural to him, "Why would that be? It is only natural for a husband to do such things for his wife, no?"

Morimoto shifted, "Yeah, see there's the problem. Excuse me for speaking bluntly, Raikage-sama, but while I've heard that you have no problems referring to her as your wife or to yourself as her husband, as you just did, Sakura-sama isn't the same."

"Explain."

He watched her jump a little at the sharpness present in his voice. She moved the box to her other arm before speaking, a strand of coquelicot hair blow in front of her face, "Well, she never calls you her husband. She always refers to you by your name. The only time I've ever heard her call herself your wife is when she's speaking objectively about her position as the Raikage's wife, and even then she doesn't actually mention you."

He folded his arms, keeping his expressions and body language passive, "I still fail to understand your surprise."

Morimoto seemed to struggle with that before apparently making up her mind and bluntly putting forth, "She doesn't accept you. I'm not even sure she likes you."

The girl fell silent, watching him carefully. Once she realized what she had said, or perhaps she saw something in him that he didn't notice the presence of, her eyes widening before she quickly thrust the box in his direction, promptly disappearing as soon as he had taken it.

He stood there for a moment before closing the door, taking the box inside with him. Even then, it took him a short while before he was able to walk the path to Sakura's bedroom.

She didn't refer to him as her husband? Not even as a partner? Sakura might not have considered herself happy, and Itachi would concede the fact that with her life, she would likely have some problems coming to terms with everything, but she at least seemed content.

The refugee settlement had finally overcome the worst as far as he knew. She had Morimoto Kana to confide in. She was speaking more to Itachi and seemed to be trusting him a little if she would recover from whatever was keeping her from him in the aftermath of that late-night conversation.

What was it about that conversation that bothered her so? Was it the fact that she and he had something in common, other than their collective desire to protect a certain someone in the days before the red dawn came? Was it the manner in which her lover died? Was it the fact that while Itachi had killed Azami some fifteen years ago, she would have had to kill her lover within the past five? Was it too soon for her to really begin to move on? Just who was her lover anyway? He was certain she knew he had been engaged to one of his cousins, yet he had no indication of who her beloved may have been.

Why did he even care?

He opened her bedroom door without knocking, only to find her in the mist of dressing. While everything was covered, she had yet to tie the black shirt closed, revealing the valley of her chest and a thin v of her abdomen. With a violent blush, she pulled the fabric tight quickly, but not before Itachi caught sight of something occupying the space over her heart.

He had seen that necklace before. He knew he had seen it before, but he couldn't quite place where it had been.

"Do you need something, Itachi?"

His attention snapped back to her and he found her looking somewhere between cross and embarrassed, "Do you like me?"

It took a moment for the words to really register, and when they did, he realized that he really, really needed some sleep. Sleeping maybe three hours a night for a month while working on rather stressful political situations and dealing with the mess that was his quasi-relationship with Sakura were not good for self-control.

"What?" she asked, and he could clearly see the disbelief on her face.

He realized that he had an opportunity then. He could pretend he said nothing, or that she misheard him. The subject would die then and it would be possible to forget that he had ever had such an unfortunate slip in self-discipline.

Or he could repeat the question and ask for an answer.

This was, in many ways, the more appealing option. He wasn't entirely sure why, but he wanted her to like him. No love, not care for in the way a woman would normally love a man. Rather, in the way Konan cared for him, because the way he cared for Konan was comparable to the way he cared for Sakura. There was a word for that, wasn't there? Something he had long forgotten. It was a word that represented the conundrum he had found himself in. That desire of wanting to see Sakura heal, of wanting her to be happy, of wanting her acceptance was all connected to that one word.

What was it when intellectual equals could meet and talk of everything and nothing and it be perfectly fine? What was it when the desire to protect someone was as strong as it was for one's own kin? He knew that somewhere inside him the word was still there, lost in his vocabulary and refusing to come forward.

Onyx eyes flickered over to the photograph of Sakura's genin team and he remembered the word.

Friend.

Something so rare in his childhood and yet, he realized, he had so many in the darkness of his adulthood. Pein, Konan, Kisame, and he hoped Sakura would join that. He certainly looked out for her in the same way he looked out for the other three. He rather enjoyed conversations with her. He wanted her to be healthy and happy, just as he wanted everything to be fine for the others.

"Do you like me?" he repeated, slower and surer of himself as he did so. He shifted the box in his arms to lean against the frame of her door, his attention completely on her.

* * *

Sakura wasn't sure what to expect when Itachi walked into her room while she was changing. Her immediate thought had been to cover up Naruto's necklace where it hung between her breasts, but other than that, she really had nothing to think about. She had just been preparing to go and fetch the present from Kana, but then Itachi walked into her room and…

The first thing he said had confused her because she was certain she couldn't have heard him right. There was no way Uchiha Itachi would ask in such a classically clueless Sasuke manner whether or not she liked him. The very vocabulary involved in the sentence was just too—too innocent. The question was so insecure that the idea of it being Itachi who was asking her this was just preposterous. He would never, right? Why would he even care? What purpose did it serve to ask, even if he was curious?

"Do you like me?" he repeated confidently and all she could think about were the days on the playground at the Academy when that very question was asked by children of those thought to have crushes on them.

But Itachi?

"Are you feeling well?" she tried, drawing healing chakra to her hands as she moved to step around the bed towards him.

He held up a hand, "I assure you I am fine."

She racked her memory for something to help her out as the chakra faded from her hands, "What was the name of my cousin's friend?"

His brow furrowed before he finally answered, "Ren-san, correct? The nurse who took care of you when your wounds were more than Takashi-san could handle."

Sakura nodded, unable to deny that the man standing at her door was in fact Uchiha Itachi, "Did you hit your head, eat something odd?"

"Sakura, please just answer the question."

He was serious. He genuinely wanted to know whether she liked him or not. She—she didn't know how to respond.

So she laughed.

It started as a slow pressure bubbling up from somewhere deep in her chest before spilling out as soft giggles she tried to hide behind her hand. Eventually, though, she was laughing. As the laughter died down, she chanced a glance at Itachi to find him with a rather stoic look of confusion.

"Sorry, it's just that's something I'd expect from Sai, not from you," she apologized, "And I'm sorry that I can't answer you. I don't know you well enough to make that kind of judgment in the way you want me to."

"Why are you speaking to me?" he remarked, the confusion growing in his eyes, "You have not spoken with me since that night, and you never speak to anyone during this week."

She shrugged, "I'm in a good mood today."

It wasn't exactly a lie. The truth was that enough time had passed for her to become comfortable with what had happened. She still had a ways to go before she completely came to terms with it, but she was getting there. And really, she had been planning the story she would tell since she woke up that morning. Itachi's odd question just brought her back to reality and she was finding that she really was in high spirits.

"I have never heard you laugh before."

His comment made her stop, her hand hovering over the long-sleeved haori spread out on her bed. When was the last time she laughed? Really, truly laughed? She smiled for Naruto and the others, but she hadn't laughed in so long.

"I suppose I'm just beginning to remember how," she replied softly, taking note of how his own crushed velvet voice had turned to clouds to say what he did. She understood the reasoning, she thought. Kana had bugged her over it so many times.

Haruno—now Uchiha—Sakura was a bright person. She was supposed to laugh and smile and love. She wasn't supposed to be angry and hateful. She was supposed to heal the wounds that couldn't be seen.

But she couldn't do that, not until she healed the wounds she suffered from.

Maybe it was time she did just that.

"Will you tell me where you're going?"

She stiffened, her happiness fading away to more sobering emotions, "I can't do that just yet. I think you have something of mine?"

She was only mildly pleased when he handed over the present as she pulled on the haori and fixed her shoes, "Sakura, when will you stop keeping secrets?"

"When will you?" she countered, taking hold of the box and preparing to walk past him, "Don't push it, Itachi. We both need more time to heal before the questions we both have can be answered. Just let things be for now. This is not the time for you to be a typical man and try to fix something that can't be fixed."

She didn't wait for him to respond, pushing past with the present in hand and disappearing through the hallway. She smirked to herself when she walked out of the building, "Seems the story will be a little different."

Without Shuisei, she traveled across Kumo until a bamboo forest somewhere in the west swallowed her up. There, lurking in the depths of the green, was a neat little home that she was granted entrance to by an old woman. She greeted her and her husband, the old bamboo cutter who tended to the forest. With a swish of her black clothing, she entered a pretty back room that had the doors open to reveal a picturesque water garden.

She smiled widely, happiness flooding her body once again as she caught sight of the body sitting on the walkway before the garden. Setting the box down by the door, she walked over to the figure, her smile refelected in the other's emerald eyes.

"Sakura, you made it!"

She took a seat beside the other, still smiling, "So I did. How have you been, Sumire?"

* * *

A/N: Don't hurt me! I know this has been a long time coming and I know that's kind of a cliffhanger at the end, but it's all for a good reason! There's now an outline for Serendipity (or something resembling one) and so I actually know where this story is going.

The only thing I can really say is my livejournal, which is locked so you would have to friend me first and I'm a little suspicious about that, has a lot of information about what's going on writing-wise.

So, yep. Here we are: Itachi and Sakura's relationship semi-defined. He sees her as a friend, she doesn't know what she sees him as. They've got a while to go before they fall in love.

Disclaimer: Me no own.

_Who do you think Sumire is?_

_Hikari Adams_


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